Portland Trail Blazers convert Olivier Sarr's deal to two-way contract

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Olivier Sarr continues to work his way up the NBA ladder.

On Thursday afternoon, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Sarr’s contract with the Portland Trail Blazers has been converted to a two-way deal. The 7-foot center, who played at Kentucky (2020-21) and Wake Forest (2017-20), initially signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Portland in early September and performed well enough throughout the preseason to earn the promotion. Sarr will now try to play his way into earning a full, standard contract.

The Portland Trail Blazers are converting center Olivier Sarr to a two-way contract, source tells ESPN. Sarr played 22 games for OKC as a rookie after college stops at Wake Forest and Kentucky.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 13, 2022

The difference between an Exhibit 10 contract and a two-way deal is significant for Sarr. With the Exhibit 10, he was essentially on a non-guaranteed minimum contract. Now, he can earn as much as around $500,000 while playing a maximum of 50 NBA games this season.

Sarr went unselected in the 2021 NBA Draft but has bounced around the league ever since. He started with the Memphis Grizzlies Summer League in 2021, spent a couple of stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder’s G League affiliate, and played on the Phoenix Suns’ Summer League team this year. Sarr has shown he can stick in the NBA though. During the 2021-22 season, he appeared in 22 games (including two starts) with the Thunder, averaging 7.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in 19.1 minutes per game while shooting 57.4 percent from the floor.

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With OKC tanking away the back half of last season, it provided Sarr with plenty of opportunities to fill in a role. His best outing was a 24-point, six-rebound performance in April against the Suns, a 21-point win for the Thunder.

Portland elected to pick Sarr up following a solid Summer League showing and he has been steady during the preseason. The one-time ‘Cat averaged 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.0 minutes per game (four total contests) while shooting 55.6 percent overall. He is expected to begin the regular season as Portland’s third-string center behind Jusuf Nurkic and Drew Eubanks.