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Casey Holdahl

It is shaping up to be a transformative offseason for the Portland Trail Blazers.

After acquiring Hansen Yang, a future first-round pick and two future second-round picks at the 2025 Draft and REPORTEDLY executing a trade last week that cannot be made official until the beginning of next week, the Trail Blazers continue to reshape their roster with the July free agency period starting… Monday afternoon.

First off, the NBA on Monday released the finalized salary cap numbers for the 2025-26 season…

Salary cap: $154.647 millionTax level: $187.895 millionMinimum team salary: $139.182 millionFirst apron: $195.945 millionSecond apron: $207.824 million

Midlevel exceptions…Non-taxpayer: $14.104 millionTaxpayer: $5.685 millionRoom: $8.781 million

According to reports, the Trail Blazers, thanks to a few transactions noted below, will have access to the full, non-taxpayer midlevel exception, meaning they will have a little over $14 million to sign one or more free agents this offseason.

Now, when it comes to the current players on Portland's roster…

Matisse Thybulle exercised his player option for the 2025-26 season the day before the 2025 Draft. The option year was the last year of the restricted free agent contract Thybulle signed with the Dallas Mavericks in 2023 that Portland decided to match. While the decision was Thybulle’s, having another elite defensive wing as the Trail Blazers continue to make improvements on that end is a very good thing. Thybulle sat out most of the 2024-25 season due to injury though he looked like his old steal-collecting, three-point shot blocking self in in the 15 games he was able to play at the end of the year.

Next, the Trail Blazers took care of some business on Saturday but exercising the 2025-26 team option on Rayan Rupert. The 6-6, 21-year old wing selected by the Trail Blazers with the 43rd pick of the 2023 Draft would have become a free agent had Portland declined the option, though that always seemed fairly unlikely.

All indications — including picking up his option — are that the team has been encouraged by the improvements Rupert has made during his two seasons playing for both the Trail Blazers and Remix. Add in that he’s reportedly on the books for roughly $2.2 million and bringing back Rupert for a third season was all but guaranteed. The Trail Blazers knew he would need time to develop when they drafted him, so cutting him lose when he is showing real signs of improvement on a contract that is less than two percent of the cap would make very little sense, if any.

Now, on to the players who might or are definitely moving on once free agency starts on July 1.

Jabari Walker, who the Trail Blazers drafted with the second-to-last pick of the 2022 Draft, was not extended the qualifying offer, meaning he will be an unrestricted free agent. The 6-9 forward out of Colorado appeared in 188 games over the last three seasons, 24 of those being starts, and posted averages of 6.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 16.3 minutes per game.

Dalano Banton also hits free agency with the two-year deal he signed expiring at the end of the 2024-25 season. The 6-9 point guard dubbed “DB Hooper” by fans in Portland averaged 10.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 20.6 minutes per game in 97 appearances with the Trail Blazers.

While it is possible that Walker and/or Banton could sign new free agent deals to return to the Trail Blazers, such a move feels unlikely at this point for either player.

And that brings us to a player who wasn’t necessarily expected to be a free agent: Deandre Ayton. The 2025-26 season was supposed to be the last year of a four-year contract he signed with the Phoenix Suns back in 2022, though the 6-11 center reportedly asked the Trail Blazers for a buyout in order to become an unrestricted free agent, which the team granted. Assuming he clears waivers — in theory another team could choose to pick up his entire contract though such a move is incredibly rare, especially for a player making the kind of money Ayton makes — he will be free to sign as a free agent with any team he chooses.

Ayton, who averaged 15.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, a steal and a block in 95 games since being acquired along with Toumani Camara and Jrue Holiday in the trade that sent Damian Lillard to Milwaukee, was reportedly set to make roughly 35 million in the final year of his deal.

Entering into a buyout likely means he and the Trail Blazers have agreed on “buying out” the contract for a lesser amount (according to Jake Fischer, Ayton is giving up $10 million to become a free agent). The Blazers will get back however much another team pays Ayton in the last year of his contract, though since the amount is basically the same for the player, usually such deals are either minimums or well below market value.

Even with Ayton moving on, the Trail Blazers still have four centers -- Robert Williams III, Duop Death, Donovan Clingan and Yang Hansen -- currently under contract for next season. Ayton almost certainly would have been the starter, so his leaving opens up a considerably amount of minutes, which is helpful considering both Clingan and Yang are young, developing centers who Portland drafted in the first round of consecutive drafts.

As currently constructed, the Trail Blazers now have 13 players under contract (not counting two-way contracts) for the 2025-26 season. Teams must carry at least 14 players so the Trail Blazers will add at least one contract before the start of the season in the middle of October. And a reminder that while players and agents can say whatever they like, teams are very limited in what they can say about free agents they have reported entered into tentative agreements with until after the July free agent moratorium, which expires July 6 at 9 a.m. PT.

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Trail Blazers Pick Up Options, Agree To Buyouts Heading Into Free Agency

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Rob Williams III 2024-2025 Season Mixtape | Portland Trail Blazers

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Robert Williams III End of Season Interview | 2024-2025 | Portland Trail Blazers

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PORTLAND, Ore. (March 20, 2025) – Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III underwent an arthroscopic procedure today to address inflammation in his left knee.

He is expected to make a full recovery and will miss 4-6 weeks.

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Robert Williams III Injury Update

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Robert Williams III Media Availability | February 21, 2025 | Portland Trail Blazers

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Robert Williams III Lob Compilation | All-Star Break '24-'25 Season | Portland Trail Blazers

ORLANDO -- The Trail Blazers secured their second three-game win streak of the season with a 101-79 victory versus the Magic Thursday night in Orlando. 

Portland held Orlando to 34 percent shooting from the field and 24 percent shooting while also holding the Eastern Conference squad to their lowest point total this season.&nbsp;

“I thought it was maybe the best defensive performance that I've had since I've been here, for sure,” said Chauncey Billups. “I thought it was a masterpiece. I really did. We locked in, they missed a lot of shots, but I thought it was because of what we did. I thought we sped them up a little bit.”

Much like the win two nights prior in Miami, the Portland trailed after the first quarter but outscored Orlando by 11 in the second to take control of the game. They would never trail in the second half and lead by as many as 25.&nbsp;

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Portland Trail Blazers 101, Orlando Magic 79 | Game Highlights | January 23, 2025

“We knew we were playing against a physical team,” said Robert Williams III, who started in place of Deandre Ayton (knee) Thursday night. “Big starting line up, bigs coming off the bench. We just fought the whole game.”

Orlando native Anfernee Simons led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go with 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 32 minutes.&nbsp;

Toumani Camara, who missed Tuesday’s game due to illness and almost didn’t play Thursday night, was a menace on both ends, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals in 34 minutes.&nbsp;

“My mom is in the stands watching me play, so I feel like I needed to play tonight,” said Camara. “If it was not for that, I probably would have taken that off just because I haven't been able to eat in 48 hours. So I got my first meal last night, so my battery was kind of low. But once I'm on the court, I mean, I love this game so much, I love these guy so much, it just kind of went out the window and was just able to play.”

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Robert Williams III Postgame Interview | Portland Trail Blazers 101, Orlando Magic 79 | Jan 23, 2025

Jerami Grant posted 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 25 minutes. Williams III came just short of a double-double with 8 points and 12 rebounds though he also blocked 4 shots in 23 minutes.&nbsp;

Dalano Banton went 4-of-9 from the field to finished with 10 points and 4 assists off the bench. Jabari Walker snatched a career-high 6 steals in 19 minutes.&nbsp;

The Trail Blazers wrap up a three-game, Eastern Conference road trip and have a chance to secure their first four-game winning streak of the 2024-25 season when they face the Charlotte Hornets Friday night in the second game of a back-to-back. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.&nbsp;

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Blazers Turn In A Defensive 'Masterpiece' In Win Versus Orlando

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