RealGM Basketball Wiretap

10 October 2025

• Blazers Sign Sean Pedulla; Waive MarJon Beauchamp, Andrew Carr, Liam Robbins

  The Portland Trail Blazers have signed guard Sean Pedulla.

  Pedulla (6-2, 190), a member of the 2025 Trail Blazers Summer League roster, averaged 15.4 points, 3.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 36 games (all starts) and was named All-SEC Third Team during his final collegiate season at Ole Miss in 2024-25.

  In a subsequent move, the Trail Blazers have requested waivers on forward MarJon Beauchamp, forward Andrew Carr and center Liam Robbins.

• Shaedon Sharpe Expected To Command Extension For At Least Four Years, $100M

  Shaedon Sharpe is expected to sign an extension with the Portland Trail Blazers worth at least four years and $100 million, according to Jake Fischer of The People's Insider.

  The Blazers' initial offer to Sharpe was for four years and around $90 million.

  League executives expect Sharpe to match Josh Giddey's extension with the Bulls of four years and $100 million.

  The 22-year-old averaged 18.5 points and 4.5 rebounds last season.

• Blazers Sign Andrew Carr

  The Portland Trail Blazers have signed forward Andrew Carr.

  Carr (6-11, 235), a member of the 2025 Trail Blazers Summer League roster, played five collegiate seasons at Delaware (2020-22), Wake Forest (2022-24) and Kentucky (2024-25). He appeared in 35 games (29 starts) for the Wildcats in 2024-25, averaging 10.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 24.0 minutes per game.

• Blazers Sign MarJon Beauchamp, Liam Robbins, Javonte Cooke To Camp Deals

  The Portland Trail Blazers have signed MarJon Beauchamp, Liam Robbins and Javonte Cooke.

  Beauchamp (6-6, 199) boasts three seasons of NBA experience-most recently finishing the 2024-25 season with the New York Knicks on a two-way contract. The Yakima, Washington, native was selected No. 24 overall in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and played 126 total games (12 starts) for the Bucks over three seasons (2022-25) before finishing out the 2024-25 season with stints with the LA Clippers (three games) and Knicks (six games).

  Robbins (7-0, 250) joins the Trail Blazers after spending the 2024-25 season on a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, appearing in 13 games for the Bucks and 13 games (seven starts) for the G League's Wisconsin Herd, where he averaged 9.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 20.3 minutes per game.

  Cooke (6-6, 185) is coming off his third G League season in 2024-25-averaging 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.0 steal in 28.2 minutes per game with the Oklahoma City Blue.

• Jerami Grant Expects To Start For Trail Blazers

  The Portland Trail Blazers added veterans this offseason when they signed Damian Lillard and traded for Jrue Holiday. Last season also saw several young players emerge. That has the Blazers starting lineup somewhat in flux.

  Veteran forward Jerami Grant is one player who expects to start. Grant said, "I don't really expect that." when he was asked about coming off of the bench for Portland.

  Grant has started in all 164 of the games he's played for the Trail Blazers over the last three seasons. The veteran forward has three seasons and $102.6 million left on the five-year contract he signed with the Blazers in 2023.

  Portland has forwards Grant and Toumani Camara, wing Deni Avdija, and guards Holiday, Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson (when the latter is healthy enough to play), along with center Donovan Clingan, all in contention for starting spots. That's seven players for five spots when everyone is healthy. It's unclear how Chauncey Billups will approach the starting lineup, given the Blazers mix of veterans and younger players with upside.

• Scoot Henderson Out 4-8 Weeks With Hamstring Tear

  Scoot Henderson sustained a left hamstring tear during an off-season workout this week.

  Henderson will begin rehabilitation and is expected to return to basketball activities in 4-8 weeks.

  Henderson averaged 12.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 26.7 minutes across 66 games in his second NBA season after he was the third overall pick out of G League Ignite in the 2023 draft.

• Blazers Expected To Sign-And-Waive Alex Reese, Blake Hinson

  The Portland Trail Blazers signed Alex Reese and Blake Hinson to Exhibit 10 contracts on Thursday.

  Both players are expected to get waived and play for the Rip City Remix, according to Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report.

  Reese averaged 5.3 points in 14 games with the Sixers last season.

  Hinton, who went undrafted last year, averaged 17.7 points per game with the Santa Cruz Warriors.

• Damian Lillard 'Couldn't Be Happier' To Be Back In Portland

  In a recent appearance on The Sideline with Andy Katz, Damian Lillard spoke about returning to the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard spoke what it means to him to return to Portland as it pertains to himself, his family and the team.

  "I'm not an overly expressive person, but I think in my adulthood, coming back at here at this time, with the age of my kids, where the team is- they've developed and grown over the last couple years- being back where I've been for the first 11 years of my career, this is one of the times where I feel extremely happy," Lillard said. "Every day I wake up and I'm thankful. I'm waking up seeing my kids, taking them to school. I can just drive down to my mom's house. I couldn't be happier."

  Lillard also spoke about how he's attacking his rehab from a torn Achilles' tendon suffered in last season's playoffs. Without setting a timeline on his return, the veteran guard said he expects to be back to being himself when he plays again.

  "I had surgery, I jumped right into the things that they allow me to do. The moment that I'm allowed to do it, I do it. And I try to get into it without fear, and also protecting myself at the same time," Lillard said. "I recently started back running, and I'm four months out. So, I'm feeling strong. I'm feeling good about it. But I'm going to take my time to get all the way back, get it all the way healed, get it back strong, feel good on it, get my body all the way back right, so that when I return to the floor I'm not returning as a shell of myself. I plan to return and be myself."

• Tom Dundon To Bring 'New Vibe' To Blazers, Hopes To Close By End Of Regular Season

  The Portland Trail Blazers hope to close the $4.25 billion sale of the franchise to Tom Dundon by March 31, 2026, shortly before the end of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. Dundon, who also owns the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, is expected to bring a "new vibe" to the Blazers.

  "He brings a swagger," a source close to Dundon told The Athletic. "If Tom was the owner last year, he would have been trying to get Luka (Doncic). He would be like, 'Why should the Lakers have him?'''

  Dundon and the estate of Paul Allen have agreed upon all the major points of the sale and are currently in an exclusivity agreement. The Blazers will remain in Oregon though the future of Mona Center is unclear.

  Dundon helped turnaround the Hurricanes, who had missed the playoffs in nine straight seasons when he purchased the team. Carolina has now made the playoffs in all seven seasons since he took over.

  "He's a winner," the source said. "He's a straight shooter, and rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. He's already talking basketball, and he already knows all the salaries of players and employees. He's really invested in the players - he says you can't compromise on players."

• Nine Teams Could Have Significant Cap Space During 2026 NBA Offseason

  There are nine teams who project to have significant cap space during the 2026 offseason. Cap space will be more readily available next offseason than it was in 2025 after a 10 percent increase in the cap for this season and a projected seven percent increase for 2026-27, combined with fewer veteran extensions this year.

  The Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.

  There were only three teams with salary cap space in 2025 in the Nets, Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks. The Nets used their cap space to take on Michael Porter Jr. via trade, while the Grizzlies used theirs to sign a renegotiate-and-extend contract with Jaren Jackson Jr. The Bucks unexpectedly created cap space by using the stretch-and-waive on Damian Lillard to sign Myles Turner.

  From 2013-14 to 2019-20, the league went through a period with an average of 17 teams per year with cap space. Since then, the average has decreased to 5.1 teams.

  The 2026 free agent class is expected to include Trae Young and LeBron James.