The Portland Trail Blazers made two big bets before the season started - one safe, one bold. They locked up Toumani Camara and Shaedon Sharpe on long-term deals, signaling two very different kinds of belief in their young core.
Camara, fresh off an All-Defensive Second Team nod, got a four-year, $82 million extension that felt like a no-brainer. He’d already carved out a clear role as a defensive anchor and tone-setter.
Sharpe, on the other hand, got a four-year, $90 million deal that raised a few more eyebrows - not because of the talent, but because of the uncertainty.
Let’s be clear: Sharpe’s ceiling has never been in question. From the moment Portland took him seventh overall in 2023, despite him not playing a single game at Kentucky, they were betting on upside.
But betting on potential and paying for production are two different things. And up until this season, Sharpe had mostly lived in the former category.
Last year, his defensive struggles pushed him to the bench, and that move actually helped spark a defensive turnaround for the Blazers. They closed the season with a top-10 defense, and it became clear that Sharpe’s one-dimensional scoring wasn’t enough - not for a team trying to build a cohesive identity, and certainly not for a player about to command $22.5 million annually.
But this is where front offices earn their paychecks. Rookie-scale extensions are all about projection.
Portland had to weigh the risk of overpaying now versus the chaos of restricted free agency later - and we’ve seen how tricky that can get with players like Cam Thomas, Jonathan Kuminga, and Josh Giddey. The Blazers chose to get ahead of the curve, locking Sharpe in before he had the breakout that now seems to be arriving in real time.
And make no mistake - that breakout is happening. Through the early part of the season, Sharpe is putting up 21.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game on shooting splits of 45% from the field, 31% from three, and 79% from the line.
The three-point shot still needs work, but he’s trending in the right direction. More importantly, he’s starting to round out his game.
The defensive effort has improved, and he’s showing signs of becoming more than just a scorer.
If that jumper stabilizes and he continues refining his shot selection, Sharpe has a real shot to become one of the league’s elite offensive weapons. For a Portland team that has struggled to find consistent offense outside of Deni Avdija, that kind of scoring punch is invaluable.
And it’s not just about points. Sharpe now leads the team in usage rate, a sign of just how central he’s become to their offensive scheme. He’s not just a highlight-reel dunker anymore - he’s a real piece of the puzzle, someone who can potentially grow into a co-star alongside Avdija.
Camara gave the Blazers a defensive floor. Sharpe gives them a ceiling.
And in today’s NBA, where dynamic scoring wings are the engines of elite teams, that ceiling is worth every penny of the $90 million they committed. In fact, if Sharpe continues on this trajectory, that deal might end up looking like a bargain.
Portland took a calculated risk on a player who hadn’t fully put it all together yet. But they believed in the flashes, the upside, the potential.
Now, that belief is starting to pay off. The Blazers didn’t just invest in Sharpe’s future - they may have secured the future of their franchise.