The Trail Blazers renewed Sharp s contract in advance and Kamara. Why did the experts rate one pass and the other fail?

Translator's Note: The original article was published on ESPN. The data in the article are as of the time of publication of the original article (October 19, local time). The dates and times involved are all local time. The opinions expressed in this article have nothing to do with the translator or the platform.

According to reports, the Trail Blazers and guard Seldon Sharp have reached an early contract extension worth $90 million for four years.

Rating: Pass (early contract renewal and pass/fail rating)

The Trail Blazers and forward Toumani Kamara reached a four-year early contract extension worth $82 million.

Grading: Unqualified (early contract extension and pass/fail rating)

To some extent, providing Kamara and Sharp with early contract extensions is a bundled decision for the Trail Blazers. Had they not reached an agreement with either player, the Blazers would have had more than $30 million in cap space next summer, although clearing that space would have required waiving Sharpe's Bird clause as a restricted free agent.

In this way, the Trail Blazers have locked these two core players until 2030, consolidating the team's reconstruction foundation, and this reconstruction has begun to bear fruit last season.

While I think Kamara is undoubtedly the better of the two players at the moment, Sharp's slightly higher early contract extension is more reasonable considering their potential free agency status.

A breakout season could make the 23-year-old Sharp one of the top restricted free agents on the market. After the All-Star break last season, he averaged 21.2 points per game and helped the Trail Blazers finish strongly - the team achieved a record of 23 wins and 18 losses in the last 41 games. Sharp enters training camp in strong form, and in the preseason he averaged 25.1 points per 36 minutes.

Of course, the restricted free agent market has been difficult in recent years, with only four offers signed since 2020. The only offer this year was to player Enfali Daunt, who had just finished his two-way contract. According to ESPN reporter Bobby Marks, he signed a contract with the Hawks with a guaranteed amount of less than $100,000.

Teams can use restricted free agency as a tool next summer as more teams will have cap space. Judging from his age, Sharp is a good fit for teams looking to accelerate their rebuilding process and return to the ranks of contenders.

Even if there is no quoted contract, Sharp may be able to get a contract with equivalent or even higher value next summer. In the impasse of this year's restricted free agency market, Josh Guidy received a contract from the Bulls with an annual salary higher than the amount of Sharp's early extension.

In Kamara's case, the Blazers could have chosen to decline his $2.4 million team option next summer, making him a restricted free agent.

While Kamara's 3D skill set is valuable, NBA teams typically don't pay top dollar for it in free agency. In the past three offseasons, only one player who averaged less points per game than Kamara (11.3 points) earned a contract with an annual salary of more than $16 million mainly based on his perimeter defense ability: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Draymond Green also gets a higher salary despite scoring less than Kamara, in part because of his playmaking role on offense.

The Pelicans' Herbert Jones is a convincing comparison. He has never averaged more than 11.0 points per game but was selected to the All-Defensive First Team in the 2023-24 season. Jones signed an early contract extension in July with an average salary of $22.5 million per season.

The difference is that Jones was about to become an unrestricted free agent. Also at the end of his rookie contract, Jones completed a four-year, $54 million extension after becoming a restricted free agent—basically the same amount as the non-luxury tax mid-level exception at the time. An equivalent early contract extension starting next season is worth approximately $65 million, which is $17 million less than what Kamara received.

Of course, the Trail Blazers hope that Kamara can grow beyond the role of a 3D player this season. Last season, he averaged 13.8 points per game after the All-Star break. This data is higher than the points per game averaged by the same type of Timberwolves player Jaden McDaniels in any season - the latter just signed a generous rookie contract extension in 2023. If that happens, the Blazers will be glad they kept Kamara ahead of time. Still, I think the Blazers took too much risk here considering they could have exercised the team option as a safeguard.

The good news for the Trail Blazers is that their salary situation for the 2026-27 season is very healthy. By then, among the players on the team whose salary is higher than the veteran's minimum salary, only Matisse Thybulle and Robert Williams III are under contract. The Blazers will have more than $30 million in salary space to use, and will not exceed the expected luxury tax line. The Blazers should be able to use their non-luxury tax mid-level exception to continue to build around their young core.