{"id":220365,"date":"2025-10-17T13:59:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T13:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/220365\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T13:59:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T13:59:11","slug":"trail-blazers-shaedon-sharpe-contract-extension-talks-will-sides-reach-deal-by-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/220365\/","title":{"rendered":"Trail Blazers, Shaedon Sharpe contract extension talks: Will sides reach deal by Monday?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>\u2019 exhibition season ended Thursday night in Salt Lake City, which means the team is officially on the clock. And not just for the start of the regular season.<\/p>\n

The Blazers have until Monday to agree to a contract extension with Shaedon Sharpe<\/a> or the fourth-year shooting guard will be eligible to become a restricted free agent following the season.<\/p>\n

What are the odds the sides work out a deal? What are the factors weighing into the negotiations? What does Sharpe think?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at where things stand three days before the deadline:<\/p>\n

WHEN IS THE DEADLINE?<\/p>\n

The sides have until Monday at 3 p.m. to work out a deal. If they don\u2019t, Sharpe, who was selected with the No. 7 pick of the 2022 NBA draft, could become a restricted free agent next summer. <\/p>\n

WHO ELSE HAS SIGNED AN EXTENSION?<\/p>\n

It has become relatively uncommon for non-max players to agree to contract extensions before the final year of their rookie deal because it\u2019s hard for teams and players to find middle ground in negotiations.<\/p>\n

A team is looking for an extension that makes sense for its long-term health and doesn\u2019t erode its salary cap flexibility, while a player is looking to maximize his earning potential. From the moment a rookie enters the league, he\u2019s playing for that second contract, which often brings a financial windfall. <\/p>\n

But general managers have cover in these negotiations because even if the player hits free agency, he would be restricted, meaning a team can always match competing offers and retain him. Any Blazers fan who followed the drama surrounding Nicolas Batum\u2019s free agent saga in July 2012 knows this all too well.<\/p>\n

That said, there have been a few signings beyond no-brainer max-contract players from Sharpe\u2019s draft class. The Houston Rockets and No. 3 pick Jabari Smith Jr. agreed to a 5-year, $122-million extension, while the Miami Heat and No. 27 pick Nikola Jovic agreed to a 4-year, $62-million deal. Also, just this week, the Sacramento Kings inked No. 4 pick Keegan Murray to a massive 5-year, $140 million extension.<\/p>\n

One can only assume the timing of that deal, which came Wednesday, sent a ripple through negotiations between the Blazers and Sharpe.<\/p>\n

WHAT IS SHARPE WORTH?<\/p>\n

Sharpe is arguably one of the hardest players in the draft class to pin a value on.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, he\u2019s a human highlight reel coming off a solid exhibition season in which he earned widespread praise<\/a> for his defensive growth. The 6-foot-5, 208-pound shooting guard averaged 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists last season on a team that went 23-18 in the second half of the season, and his upside and athleticism are off the charts. Oh, and he\u2019s only 22. <\/p>\n

On the other hand, Sharpe is streaky, inconsistent from three-point range and his defense was so spotty last season, coach Chauncey Billups<\/a> temporarily benched him. <\/p>\n

On top of it all, franchise cornerstones Deni Avdija<\/a> and Toumani Camara<\/a>, who are currently playing under team-friendly deals, will be seeking their own contract extensions in the not-too-distant future. Whatever the Blazers pay Sharpe now sets a precedent for the future.<\/p>\n

It seems likely the Blazers are aiming to ink Sharpe to an annual salary between $21-23 million, landing somewhere just south of the deal Smith signed. Meanwhile, Rich Paul, who represents Sharpe, no doubt looked at Murray\u2019s deal with the Kings and wondered: \u201cHow close can we get to that?\u201d<\/p>\n

WHAT DOES SHARPE THINK?<\/p>\n

Sharpe is a man of few words, so when he was asked earlier this week about the extension negotiations and his thoughts on landing a deal, he didn\u2019t offer much insight. <\/p>\n

But this much is clear: Sharpe is not asking Paul for regular updates about how talks are going, opting instead to focus on his game and avoid the distraction.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019m going to come here and play basketball,\u201d Sharpe said. \u201cThat\u2019s what my job is. Just come here and play basketball. So that\u2019s what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

When someone mentioned that people get paid for their jobs, Sharpe grew a little irritated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, it\u2019s basketball. I\u2019ve only been doing this since a little kid, so I\u2019m not really worried about the money. The money will come. At the end of the day, it\u2019s basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

SO … WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THE SIDES REACH A DEAL?<\/p>\n

At the start of the week, odds seemed unlikely, hovering around 25%. By Thursday, they tumbled even lower.<\/p>\n

Both sides are open to a deal. It\u2019s just a matter of finding a happy medium on the price.<\/p>\n

Most negotiations don\u2019t intensify until the last hour, when both sides are forced to show their best hands and take-it-or-leave-it offers and counter-offers are exchanged. It seems unlikely the Blazers and Sharpe agree to an extension, but we won\u2019t know for sure until Monday at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

Assuming that happens, Sharpe would be placing an enormous bet on himself, gambling that he can put it all together in his fourth season and finally fulfill his immense potential.<\/p>\n

How much more would Sharpe command if he blossomed into an All-Star? A lot. But the Blazers would gladly pay extra for a star.<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Portland Trail Blazers\u2019 exhibition season ended Thursday night in Salt Lake City, which means the team is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-220365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}