The Portland Trail Blazers officially have the best contract in the association with Deni Avdija. He's on track to make his first All-Star appearance, making just $14.4 million this season. Better yet, it's a front-loaded deal, decreasing to $11.9 million in the final year of his contract (2027-28).
Portland desperately needed a star to help guide its rebuild, and it finally found one in a bold deal with the Washington Wizards that looks increasingly more lopsided. Now, they must do everything they can to secure that star for as long as possible. Realistically, that means eventually trading one of Jerami Grant or Jrue Holiday to clear space to renegotiate and extend Avdija.
Blazers must trade Jerami Grant or Jrue Holiday to renegotiate and extend Deni Avdija
Sam Vecenie recently suggested on the Game Theory Podcast that one of Grant or Holiday will have to be traded in the next 18 months to help lock down Avdija on a more lucrative long-term deal.
"I'm fully in on Deni. This is obviously the best deal in the league," Vecenie said. "To me, at some point in the next 18 months, they need to find a way to clear one of Jerami Grant or Jrue Holiday off of this roster in order to renegotiate and extend his deal. It doesn't have to be now, but you have to figure out a way to add more years to his deal."
While Avdija's front-loaded contract has its benefits for Portland, one downside is that it complicates an extension. The Blazers can only offer a 140% increase from his final year, amounting to $16.6 million. He's significantly outplaying that, making it an unrealistic scenario.
Instead, the Blazers will first have to renegotiate his current contract. But as Vecenie notes, because this is such a team-friendly deal, the Blazers could still get reasonable value on whatever that next contract looks like.
"You should be able to do so at a reasonable number because you'd be adding $30 million potentially to his contract in one year. So you should be able to get it at a non-max number, making it still a very real discount on what you're getting on Deni. But you do need to find a way to do that."
Jrue Holiday is the highest-paid player on Portland's roster and has a $37.2 million player option in the 2027-28 season. At that point, he'll be 37 years old. Meanwhile, Grant isn't too far behind in terms of salary, with a $36.4 million player option the same year.
In a vacuum, we'd still prefer the Blazers to dump Grant to clear space for Avdija, but it ultimately depends on the market for each player. Both have successfully boosted their value this season thanks to bounce-back campaigns, which should help Portland find a trade partner. And while the Blazers don't necessarily need to rush on an extension for Avdija, it makes sense to have a sense of urgency to try and sell high on one of Holiday or Grant, potentially as soon as the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
After all, they're only getting older and more expensive.