The Portland Trail Blazers just extended Toumani Camara on a four-year, $82 million deal, cutting out the last year of his contract and paying him more money sooner. Sam Vecenie of the Game Theory podcast compared it to the Andrew Nembhard contract, which came back to bite the Indiana Pacers (in a way), though the Blazers are safer than Indiana because their long-term pieces are all already taken care of.
“The reason I bring this up is because I have good friend of mine who I love dearly, John Hollinger, in my head right now,” Vecenie said. “Who, I remember having a long conversation with him about the Nembhard deal. And that’s essentially what this is. This is the Andrew Nembhardd deal. Where Nembhard tore up his final year of his contract, and they added three, four, $59, $60.”
“Both second-round picks, for people wondering about the comparison point,” said Vecenie’s co-host, Bryce Simon.
“And, in my opinion, what the end result of that was, it played a role in them losing Myles Turner,” Vecenie continued. “I’m not saying it was the reason they lost Myles Turner. Ownership was the reason they lost Myles Turner. That’s the reality. Ownership should have just paid the Myles Turner deal. But because they did the Nembahrd deal a year early, that played a role in them losing Myles Turner. So, I think it’s worth considering those factors within this entire situation.”
Why is Toumani Camara contract different than Andrew Nembhard?
When the Pacers extended Nembhard in the summer of 2024, they knew they had to deal with Myles Turner’s contract the following year. That put them in a bind, and, in part, led to them losing him in free agency.
That is not the case with Portland. They already have most of their long-term pieces in place, so beginning Camara’s extension a year earlier won’t hurt them as much.
Jrue Holiday, Jerami Grant, Deni Avdija, and Damian Lillard are all under contract through the 2027-28 season (though Holiday, Grant, and Lillard have player options that year).
They just extended Shaedon Sharpe on a new, four-year, $90 million contract alongside Camara. Scoot Henderson has two more years left on his rookie deal, and Donovan Clingan has three.
The only core players who will be free agents this summer are Robert Williams and Matisse Thybulle, and the Blazers don’t seem to depend on them too much.
Camara’s contract shouldn’t hurt the Blazers like the Nembhard contract hurt the Pacers.