The Portland Trail Blazers finally have a player worth building around in Deni Avdija, but their first offseason after his breakout has only made his future murkier.
That’s the concern raised by CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn, who floated Avdija as a possible 2028 free-agent target for the Dallas Mavericks while discussing Dallas’ long-term plans with Yossi Gozlan on the Third Apron Podcast. Quinn framed a reunion with Luka Doncic as wishcasting, then pointed to Avdija as the more realistic name Dallas should be tracking.
"I think there's a very good chance that Deni Avdija is available in free agency in 2028, and Dallas is the team that should be positioning itself to get him," he said.
Quinn also described the Blazers as a "sinking ship," arguing that they are not protecting the cap room they would need to renegotiate and extend Avdija.
The contract itself is a huge part of the problem. Avdija is set to make just $13.1 million this season and $11.9 million in 2027-28, which looks like a bargain on the surface. But because the deal is front-loaded and team-friendly, it creates a complication when Portland tries to keep him long term.
Under the NBA’s veteran extension rules, the Blazers can go only up to 140% of Avdija’s final-year salary. They could also use the average salary from his current contract, which is more sensible for a front-loaded deal. Even then, though, Avdija’s $13.75 million average annual value would rise only to $19.25 million after that 140% bump.
That’s why the extension math gets messy fast. Portland would eventually need to renegotiate his current contract and then extend him off that new number using the same 140% rule. It’s the kind of financial squeeze that helped make Jerami Grant and Jrue Holiday trade candidates before the offseason began, since moving one of the Blazers’ top earners would have opened room for Avdija’s next deal.
Instead, Portland moved in the opposite direction.
The Blazers did trade Grant, but they replaced him with Ja Morant, a more expensive swing that only deepened the pressure on their books. And that came at Avdija’s expense, even though he has become Portland’s first All-Star since Damian Lillard.
That’s what makes the offseason feel so odd. The Blazers finally landed the kind of star they’ve been hunting through the rebuild, then acted like he wasn’t the priority once they got him.
The fit questions don’t help, either. Morant’s game overlaps with Avdija’s in all the wrong ways: both attack downhill, Morant doesn’t space the floor well, and his ball-dominant style can cut into what makes Avdija valuable as a point forward.
Portland missed on two key goals this summer: clearing space to renegotiate and extend Avdija, and surrounding him with better complementary pieces, especially shooting. If that doesn’t change, Quinn’s warning starts to look a lot less hypothetical and a lot more like a roadmap for Dallas in 2028.
In Other News...
Scoot Henderson Just Put The Blazers At A Backcourt Crossroads
Scoot Henderson is at an interesting point with the Trail Blazers, because he is eligible for a contract extension while Portlands backcourt plans seem to be shifting around him. For a young guard who was supposed to be part of the franchises next core, the timing matters. The front office does not have to rush into anything, but the longer this stays unresolved, the more it looks like Portland is weighing what Hendersons next role should really be.
If the Blazers are no longer viewing him as a primary backcourt piece, the conversation moves quickly from development to asset management. Around the league, there are already teams that could make sense as possible fits if Portland decides to explore a move, and that kind of interest usually keeps a players name alive in trade chatter right up to the deadline. The bigger question now is whether the Blazers want to clarify their direction with Henderson before that point arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Damian Lillard Has A Real Case Fans Will Love Debating
Damian Lillard has always lived in the conversation reserved for the leagues great perimeter shooters, and the case for him only gets more interesting when the discussion widens beyond raw volume. His place among the NBAs career three-point leaders, along with his true shooting mark and long-running reputation for making difficult shots look routine, gives Portland fans plenty to argue about when his name comes up next to Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, James Harden and Ray Allen.
What keeps Lillard in that elite tier is not just how often he scores from deep, but how much of it has mattered when the game tightens. His rsum is packed with decisive late-game moments and the kind of shot-making that changes a series or flips a night in an instant, which is why the debate around his place among all-time shooters is still so lively. For Blazers fans, it is the kind of discussion that never really gets old, because Lillard has made a career out of turning pressure into something he seems built to handle. [Read more 🡒]
Micah Noris First Blazers Staff Reveals His Early Vision
Micah Nori has finished putting together his first coaching and basketball operations staff for the 2026-27 season, giving the Trail Blazers an early look at the shape of the program he wants to build. The group features assistants Jay Triano, Mike Williams, Quinton Crawford, Gilbert Abraham and Leron Black, along with player development coaches Pooh Jeter and Jason Luhnow, a mix that suggests Portland is trying to balance experience, teaching and developmental depth from the top down.
The staff picture also includes a couple of notable shifts behind the scenes as the Blazers continue lining up the next phase of the organization. Nate Bjorkgren is transitioning into a special assistant role, while James Brocato has come aboard to handle basketball innovation, adding another layer to the front-office and bench-side structure Nori is assembling as Portland maps out what this era will look like. [Read more 🡒]