Making Sense of Deni Avdija's Upcoming Contract Possibilities

The most important move the Trail Blazers have made since the Damian Lillard trade was the draft-night deal in 2024 to bring in Deni Avdija from Washington. Avdija never broke out in his first four seasons with the Wizards, but Portland's front office saw some unrealized All-Star upside and moved aggressively to get him.

We all know how that worked out. Avdija was excellent in his first season in Portland and even better this year. He became a first-time All-Star and was a top-three finalist for Most Improved Player. This weekend, the three All-NBA teams were announced, and Avdija just missed being included. He was the last cut, with the 16th-most votes for one of the 15 spots. But those are the conversations he's in now, league-wide.

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Besides his upside, the thing that made Avdija so valuable to the Blazers when identifying potential trade targets that summer was his contract. He was about to go into the first year of a four-year, $55 million extension with a salary structure that declines year over year. In the final year of that deal, in 2027-28, Avdija will be making $11.8 million, projected to be just over five percent of the salary cap by then.

Having a franchise-level player on a contract that far below market value makes the next two years a lot easier from a roster and cap-management standpoint. But when Avdija's current deal is up in two years, it will be time to pay him what he's actually worth.

There are several ways the team can go about doing that, but his bargain salary makes it more complicated than you'd think.

Here are the options for how Avdija and the Blazers could approach his next contract, and when that might happen.