The Portland Trail Blazers will have plenty of decisions to make in the Summer of 2026 regarding their roster. One of them will be the fate of center Robert Williams III, an oft-injured veteran who came up huge late in the year, particularly during Portland’s NBA Playoffs series with the San Antonio Spurs. Williams is an unrestricted free agent coming off of a contract that paid him $13.3 million this season.
Williams remains a challenging assessment, not just for Portland, but for their fellow NBA
franchises. His value is clear. He’s an agile defender, capable of covering from the arc to the rim as a center. He averaged 7.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in just 17.1 minutes per game this year for the Blazers. Part of the reason his minutes were limited: he’s been prone to chronic injuries for the last several years. He played in 59 games this season. That’s approximately equal to his entire game total the three seasons prior, cumulatively.
That didn’t deter Bobby Marks of ESPN from ranking Williams the ninth-best unrestricted free agent on the market this summer. Marks even suggested an appropriate offer:
Three years, $42 million. The first year of $13.3 million is guaranteed, but the second and third have no salary protection. If Williams plays more than 50 games next season, his salary in 2027-28 would become guaranteed. The same protection applies to the 2028-29 season, but Williams has to reach 50 games in 2027-28 to qualify.
What say you, Blazers fans? Would you go for that deal to retain your reserve center? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
