Will Trail Blazers Extend Vets Before They Reach 2026 Free Agency?

Portland may want to take

Mar 16, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) and center Deandre Ayton (2) on the bench in the final few minutes of the game against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

The Portland Trail Blazers have three veteran players inked to very movable deals through 2026, all currently in their mid-20s. Would it make sense for the team to actually explore reinvesting in any of these pieces with potential extensions before they hit unrestricted free agency?

Let's unpack each piece.

Anfernee Simons

The 2023-24 starting shooting guard will be shifted over to a starting point guard role for Portland this season. Simons will be only 27 when he hits free agency, and has already proven himself to be a high-level scorer.

The 6-foot-3 guard is still owed $53.6 million across the next two seasons, which is fairly reasonable for an elite scorer. And maybe his lackluster defense can be covered up better when he's suiting up against opposing players who are his own height. In 46 games last year, Simons averaged 22.6 points on a .430/.385/.916 slash line, 5.5 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.5 swipes a night.

Deandre Ayton

Ayton was, astoundingly, selected with the No. 1 pick in a stacked 2018 NBA Draft, ahead of eventual five-time All-NBA Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, All-NBA Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous Alexander three-time All-Star Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young, and 2023 Memphis Grizzlies Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr.

He's not as good any of those players, but that doesn't mean he doesn't still have value as potentially an above-average starting center in the league. He wasn't quite that good last year, and has had some issues in certain postseason matchups, but was still a high-level contributing starter on an also-ran NBA Finals team in 2021. Ayton will be 28 when he next hits free agency — unless he's extended before then.

During his inaugural season in Portland, the 7-footer averaged 16.7 points on 57 percent shooting from the floor and 82.3 percent shooting from the charity stripe, 11.1 boards, 1.6 dimes, 1.0 steals and 0.8 rejections.

Ayton will earn $69.6 million across the final two seasons of his current deal, a bit of an overpay at present. It may not behoove the Blazers to extend him on his current contract, even if they do want to keep him around. Although their decision to draft Donovan Clingan doesn't quite suggest that they're very interested.

Robert Williams III

Williams, a 2022 All-Defensive Second Teamer while with the Boston Celtics (he would have been in line for Defensive Player of the Year honors that season, but he was only healthy for 61 games), has rarely been available enough to contribute meaningfully for the past several seasons.

Across the past two seasons, the 6-foot-9 Texas A&M product has only appeared in 41 out of 164 possible regular season contests. He missed all but six games this year. Williams has never been healthier than he was during his lone All-Defensive season. He's also missed at least 47 games in four of his six pro seasons.

Williams will make $25.7 million across the next two years, a totally respectable sum if he could actually be counted on to play at least 60 games.

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