Trading Damian Lillard last offseason signaled an official and total rebuild for the Portland Trail Blazers. It makes sense, then, that the roster is the third-youngest in the NBA and that the team will finish this season with one of the worst records in the league.
What doesn't make sense is that this same franchise - one that rolled out a starting five of all rookies in multiple games for the first time in NBA history - has the 17th-most expensive roster in the league, is more than $35 million over the salary cap and is $1.3 million away from paying the luxury tax.
Portland has a more expensive roster than playoff teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. And next year isn't much better; the Trail Blazers' roster is projected to be more costly than those of the Orlando Magic, Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings.
It's an unusual situation. Franchises that are rebuilding and outwardly tanking aren't normally one signing away from bypassing the luxury tax. Yet that's where Portland finds itself.
Here's a look at which players are taking up the largest chunks of the Blazers' cap space and where the team's best bargains are coming from.
Players with cap holds for next season - Ashton Hagans, Ibou Badji, Justin Minaya and Moses Brown - will not count against the Blazers' total cap figure and aren't included on this list.
The absolute steals
14. Duop Reath
The Blazers recognized Reath was already a steal when he went from summer league star to two-way player to G League standout to NBA rotation player this season. So they signed him to an extension and made him an absolute steal.
The 27-year-old big man has started 20 games for Portland, is playing 18 minutes per game, is averaging 9.2 points and is shooting 37 percent from three. He signed a three-year, $6.2 million deal that goes through 2025-26 with only $4 million guaranteed. Locking up a valuable stretch five like Reath for that price is the definition of a team-friendly contract.
13. Toumani Camara
Camara may have been the least-heralded piece Portland received in the three-team Lillard trade, but the 6-foot-7 forward quickly caught head coach Chauncey Billups' attention with his defensive IQ and effort. The Dayton product eventually earned a starting spot and has averaged almost 25 minutes a night this season while often being tasked with defending one of the opposing team's best scorers.
If Camara can develop a consistent 3-point stroke - he shot 45.8 percent on 2.4 attempts per game over his last 20 contests - the Trail Blazers unearthed a three-and-D forward who will make less than $8 million total over the next four seasons.
12. Shaedon Sharpe
Despite only playing 32 games this year, Shaedon Sharpe has shown enough to cement his status as a core building block for Portland and a player with superstar upside.
He exploded over the final 10 games of last season and carried that momentum into his sophomore campaign when he averaged 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists in more than 37 minutes a night through this year's first 22 games.
Sharpe hasn't played since Jan. 11 after suffering an adductor injury, but he'll still only be 21 years old next season and will make a combined $14.9 million over the next two years.
Still young, still developing and still cheap
11. Scoot Henderson
After Sharpe, the only player on Portland's roster with superstar potential is Henderson. The No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft has had a disappointing rookie season relative to expectations, but he's also had stretches in which he looks like a franchise floor general.
For example: Scoot's the only rookie to score 20 points and dish out 10 assists in a game this season, and he's done it four times.
A player who possesses enormous upside, plays the most important position in the game and is still 20 years old on a rookie contract is the kind of value every NBA franchise desires.
10. Jabari Walker
His averages of 8.7 points and 4.7 rebounds won't wow anyone, but Jabari Walker has become a crucial player for the Blazers in his second season. The energy and effort he puts on the floor in his more than 23 minutes a night makes him one of Billups' most reliable bench options. Walker just had a 14-point, 22-rebound game in a win over the Charlotte Hornets.
He has a non-guaranteed salary of $2.0 million in '24-25 before becoming a restricted free agent in '25-26.
9. Rayan Rupert
Rupert, who was picked 11 spots ahead of Camara last summer, was undoubtedly the Rip City Remix's Most Valuable Player. He started 15 games for the franchise's new G League affiliate and averaged 13.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 44.3 percent from three on more than four attempts per game.
The 6-foot-6 19-year-old with a 7-foot-3 wingspan was drafted as a potential lock-down defender, but if he can carry that 3-point stroke into the NBA, he has more upside than Camara as a three-and-D wing. He'll make about $4 million over the next two seasons before becoming a restricted free agent.
8. Kris Murray
Portland made Murray the 23rd pick in last year's draft hoping he would be what Camara has been and what Rupert could be. But the former Iowa star couldn't crack Billups' rotation until tank season began and still hasn't played like a first-round pick since becoming a regular starter.
In almost 31 minutes a night over his last 22 games, Murray is averaging 8.9 points and is shooting just 22.7 percent from three. It's been a disappointing season for the 23-year-old, but he's still making a rookie salary on a rebuilding team. He'll continue to get chances to show he's an NBA-caliber player, and in the worst-case scenario, Portland pays him $2.9 million next season and lets him walk in 2025-26.
7. Dalano Banton
Portland General Manager Joe Cronin gave up almost nothing to take Dalano Banton off the Boston Celtics' hands, and all the 24-year-old has done since is produce. After scoring fewer than 5 points a game over his first 119 NBA contests, Banton is posting averages of 15.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists as a member of the Trail Blazers. He's hitting 35.6 percent of his 5.4 3-point attempts a night.
Banton is doing all this as a 6-foot-9 point guard, which makes him a versatile piece on both ends of the floor. The question is, what happens next year when he isn't getting tanking-time minutes? Picking up his $2.2 million option for next season is worth discovering the answer.
Valuable now but with a questionable future
6. Matisse Thybulle
The Blazers matched a three-year, $33 million offer sheet from the Dallas Mavericks to keep Thybulle from getting away. The two-time all-defensive team guard shot a career-high 38.8 percent from three last season, seemingly becoming the three-and-D guard Portland hoped for.
But that number's regressed to 34.6 percent this year, his minutes have declined and he's only scoring 5.4 points per game. At 27 years old, it's fair to say this is who Thybulle is as a player. His $11 million salary isn't exorbitant, but if he's relegated to being an off-the-bench defensive specialist, it's not exactly great value, either.
5. Robert Williams III
Cronin jumped at the opportunity to grab Williams, one of the best defensive big men in the league, when he rerouted Jrue Holiday from Milwaukee to Boston. In 61 games during the 2021-22 season, Williams averaged 10.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks on his way to being named second-team all-defense.
But the 26-year-old has only crossed the 50-game threshold one other time in his six NBA seasons and played just six games for the Blazers this year before needing season-ending knee surgery.
Rob Will's value stems from the potential of combining his high ceiling with his low $12 million average annual salary. But when he's not on the floor there's no value at all.
Fairly compensated
4. Malcolm Brogdon
A case can be made that Brogdon is overpaid because of his injury history and awkward fit as an older guard in a young backcourt, but for what he provided this season, his $22.5 million salary - which becomes an expiring this summer - seems fair.
The 31-year-old took the reigns from Henderson when the rookie struggled. That took some burden and pressure off of Scoot's shoulders, but Brogdon was also his usual efficient, productive self. Before being shut down after the all-star break, he averaged 15.7 points and 5.5 assists with only 1.5 turnovers on shooting splits of 44/41/82.
3. Anfernee Simons
Simons, an improving 24-year-old in his first year functioning as the Blazers' top offensive option while playing on a team-friendly four-year, $100 million deal is the most valuable contract on the books.
He's dealt with injuries this season, but the six-year vet is averaging career-highs in points, rebounds and assists while remaining an efficient, high-volume shooter. Ant's role in Portland's rebuild is still to be determined; there's certainly a place for him on the roster, but he's also the franchise's most valuable trade asset.
The fact that only two players belong in this category is probably a reason why the Blazers are one of these uncommon rebuilding yet expensive rosters.
Overpaid and potentially problematic
2. Deandre Ayton
Until the all-star break, Deandre Ayton was having the worst season of his NBA career. But for whatever reason, a switch flipped and DominAyton finally arrived in Portland.
The 25-year-old is averaging 22.4 points and 13.2 rebounds on 61 percent shooting since then, and with Simons, Brogdon and Jerami Grant dealing with injuries, has become the team's best and most consistent player.
However, Ayton will be the highest-paid Blazer in 2024-25 and one of the highest-paid centers in the entire NBA. If he's posting 22-point, 13-rebound double-doubles on a nightly basis, he'll be worth the price. But history says Ayton's not that player.
1. Jerami Grant
This is almost unfair to Grant, who was the Trail Blazers' best player all year until he started dealing with hamstring issues just as the team was ready and willing to leave any slightly injured veteran on the bench. Until then, he was averaging 21.0 points and shooting 40.2 percent from three on more than 5 attempts a game as Billups' most reliable scorer.
But Grant is also just completing the first season of a five-year, $160 million contract. He's a good player, but not quite that good. He's also 29 years old; by the time Portland is ready to make playoff runs again, he'll be on the wrong side of 30 and making more than $30 million a year.
Grant is also pricey enough that it will be difficult to get fair value in return if Cronin tries to trade him and unload his contract. It's a tough spot to be in, but considering the length of his deal, his age and his status as an almost-but-not-quite all-star, Grant finds himself as the Trail Blazers' most overpaid player.