New coach, new headliners, new expectations for Blazers

Back after missing last season following Achilles tendon surgery, Damian Lillard said he expects the Trail Blazers to be “a dangerous team” this season

Monday was Media Day for the Trail Blazers at Moda Center, with thousands of photos shot and basketballs and posters signed and promotional videos produced and, well, interviews with the media.

Through several hours of question-and-answer, there was a general feeling of cautious optimism. Nobody came out and proclaimed there will be a championship parade down Southwest Broadway next June. There is too much newness for that — new ownership, a new coach and an important new player who comes in with some significant off-court baggage.

But after going 42-40 and reaching the playoffs for the first time in five years last season,

more is expected of Portland’s NBA team in 2026-27. The players feel that way, too.

“We can be a dangerous team,” says Damian Lillard, the franchise icon who is back in the saddle after a year away due to injury. “I really believe that.”

In his first gig “one seat over” after serving under 13 head coaches in 17 years as an assistant coach in the NBA, Micah Nori has a good deal of material with which to work, but also a big job ahead of him.

Nori will have what could be one of the deepest rosters in the league. That means he will have to find playing time for at least nine to 10 players, not including guard Shaedon Sharpe, who is expected to be out until after the All-Star break following August knee surgery. Nori have to sort through a lineup stacked with perimeter players.

A guess for a starting lineup would include Lillard and Ja Morant at guard, Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara at forward and Donovan Clingan at center. That leaves minutes off the bench for guards Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson, center Robert Williams, and probably swing men Sidy Cossoko and Vit Krejci. Newly acquired bigs Branden Carlson and Micah Potter will get their chance, too.

Let’s cover some of the main items on the agenda for the Blazers, who began training camp Tuesday, play their first preseason game on Oct. 7 against Golden State at Moda and open the regular season on October. 21 against Phoenix at home.

• DAME RETURNS: After sitting out last season while rehabbing from Achilles tendon surgery in May of 2025, Lillard is back — as a player, and as a Trail Blazer after spending two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. Lillard was with the Blazers last season, but only in street clothes as he worked his way into shape and good health.

Lillard seems to be where he wants to be now. The 6-2 guard says he weighs 195 pounds — “the lowest I’ve been in probably 10 years.” How has he done it? “A year and some change of training camp — that’s it.”

Now 36 and beginning his 14th NBA season — his 12th in Portland — Lillard may not have the athleticism or the quick first step he had through his first run with the Blazers. After the way he has played in recent pickup games at the Blazers’ Tualatin training facility, or against NBA-level players in his private gym, you won’t convince him of that.

“The night of the injury, I was watching a commentator say, ‘This is the last of Dame Lillard as we know it,’ ” Lillard said. “Right then, that turned me up. Not because I feel I need to prove something, but I am somebody who is going to fight the fight every time. I’m always trying to get the most out of myself.”

During the long months of rehab following the injury, “You have days where it’s discouraging,” he said. “But I chose to fight the fight. Today, when I am going through drills, I really do feel like my young self, and it’s because all of those days add up. I am able to play free now.”

Lillard will continue to be driven as a player, but in a different way, he said.

“I live with a chip on my shoulder, but it is not about that for me now,” he said. “I just want to have this experience with joy, finding my way back on the floor. Being back out there is enough. That’s a win for me to begin with. The game was stripped away in a way that I didn’t choose. I had a significant injury. I will play this season with a lot of joy and the intentions of doing what is best for the team. I know there will be some big moments, and some moments where it might be somebody’s else’s night. But I know I will be Dame Lillard, and this will be no different.”

Lillard is part of a deep guard unit that includes newly acquired Morant, the veteran Holiday and Henderson, still only 22 as he begins his fourth NBA season. Dame has never averaged fewer than 35 minutes. It seems unlikely he will reach that plateau this season. I asked if he is OK with that, and how many minutes he believes he can handle.

“I am capable of doing whatever I need to,” he said. “That was why it was important for me to train my body properly and get healthy. At this stage, I don’t need to kill myself in the regular season trying to play 37, 36, 35 minutes. It’s unnecessary. We have a lot of ability at the guard position. It shouldn’t be necessary to play 35, but I am able to play however many minutes I play, and I’m prepared to.”

General manager Joe Cronin predicts that Ja Morant “will thrive” in his new environment with the Blazers

•JA’S CAUSE: Morant’s acquisition via trade with Memphis in late June was controversial, given the off-court behavior that caused him suspensions and injuries that contributed to limiting him to a total of 79 games over the previous three seasons.

As he met with the media, Morant came across as soft-spoken, likable and appreciative of his new team and city.

“Portland has been nothing but good to me,” he said.

General manager Joe Cronin said he believes in Morant, and that the people around him in Portland will be to his benefit.

“Who Ja is as a person doesn’t concern us,” said Cronin, who begins his fifth season as the team’s GM. “I am very confident he is a good guy. With the intel work and study about him as a teammate and member of the community, I don’t have any concerns there.

“I also have a lot of faith in our ability to support him. Being around Dame and Jrue is a blessing most players are unable to have. They will be impactful for Ja with their leadership and friendship and mentorship. Our organization as a whole does a good job of supporting players and placing them in a healthy, respectable environment. I think he is going to thrive in this environment.”

This is clearly a second chance to Morant, who had burned his bridges in Memphis. When asked if he considers this a fresh start, Ja initially demurred. He quickly changed course.

“I wouldn’t say it was needed,” he said. “When you have the chance to have a fresh start, it’s important that you take it serious and take advantage of it.” And: “How the past years went for me, I felt like it was needed for me.”

With the new start with a new organization, “I feel a lot better,” he said. “Ready to hoop, honestly. Everything that happened stuck with me. Everybody keeps bringing those things up. As long as ‘Memphis’ was across my chest, it was still getting said. I am pretty sure everybody here still judges me off that some. But now I get to start over.”

After playing pickup games and being around him for a few weeks, his new teammates give him a thumb’s up.

“All of us have up and downs,” Lillard said. “It’s a journey. What is important is how you respond to those experiences and the criticism. He’s a good dude. I consider myself a pretty good judge of character. He’s easy to be around.”

“Ja is a great guy to be around,” center Donovan Clingan said. “I love the way he spaces the floor, the way he communicates. He has elite passing ability, athleticism. The ability to get to the rim opens up shots for (teammates). He is going to fit in well with this team. I am happy to play alongside him.”

“When you’re on the same side as him, you see what he is great at,” Holiday said. “He is a fast-paced player, but he knows how to change speeds and get everybody involved. He can read the game very well. It has been fun having him here.”

Lillard and Morant are both 6-2 and not particularly defensive-minded. Nori may choose to start Holiday with Lillard in the frontcourt, bringing Ja off the bench. Morant started all but two games in his seven years with the Grizzlies. I asked how important it is for him to be a starter.

“Winning is the most important thing to me,” he said. “Whatever role I have to play to get that done … nobody would be mad after a win. If I’m a starter, if I’m not, same thing. That’s a coach’s question, but for me, I have no problem with neither.”

Morant was asked why it made sense for Nori to use Lillard and him together in the lineup.

“We have different strengths,” he said. “Mine is that I am able to get downhill. I can create for me and others. Most teams don’t like players touching the paint, because it causes defenses to collapse. If I am driving and somebody has to help, that means I have a teammate who is open. If I get a double (team), I am pretty sure other guys can score. Dame can shoot it from halfcourt, or from midrange, or a layup. That allows me to have more space to be the best Ja I can be, and help us get wins.”

Morant, 27, took a leadership role from the start in Memphis, when he was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2019-20. He was asked how it will be to play alongside veterans such as Lillard and Holiday.

“I was put in that role in Memphis, but you can never learn too much,” Morant said. “Now having Dame and Jrue, guys who have been here for awhile, is definitely a plus. And they are guards, too, so I get to ask more guard questions now, to spend time with them and pick their brain anytime I need to.”

• GUARD GLUT: There would seem to be only 96 minutes available at the two backcourt positions and four players deserving of major playing time there. Minus Sharpe’s injury, the logjam would be even greater. The 6-4, 220-pound Holiday, now 36 but still a versatile defender, can slide over to forward if necessary, which will help.

But Nori said he isn’t going to worry about positions.

“The league is going much smaller — position-less and that type of thing,” he said. “To have really good players willing to make good decisions and plays for others? It’s a good problem to have. It’s a heck of a lot better than the alternative.”

Nori sounds as if he is planning for a hockey-like, shorter-shift substitution pattern throughout his roster.

“Gone for us are the days of guys playing 10, 12 (straight) minutes,” the coach said. “We would rather they play in shorter stints — six to eight minutes — and playing at the highest level they can be. It gets a little bit easier.

“A lot of it is establishing what is expected of them. They are not going to be out there biding their time and pacing themselves so they can play 12 (straight) minutes. The old adage is, ‘Don’t count your minutes; make your minutes count.’ I can see us finishing games with different combinations through the course of the season.”

Lillard and Morant are high-octane shooters and scorers. Avdija was 14th in the NBA last season with a 24.2-point average. Holiday and Henderson like the ball in their hands, too.

Nori had an answer for it, and I didn’t notice a tongue in his cheek.

“It’s very easy,” he said. “If you want the ball, go get it. Rebound and push it. It sounds maybe silly, but that’s one way to do it.”

The players sound as if they feel it won’t be a problem at all.

“The quicker we can get over (worrying about minutes), the quicker we’ll start taking off,” Henderson said. “Coach has talked about it; we have talked about it. Play your hardest, get tired, come on out. Play hard for whatever minutes you are getting. That’s the only way to be a well-oiled team. It’s different, but everybody goes and does their all. If we do that, it’s going to be difficult for teams to match our energy.”

“If I get the ball and I am advancing it to Ja Morant, I feel pretty good about it,” Lillard said. “If I am advancing it to Deni Avdija, I feel good about it. If both of those guys are attacking the paint and kicking the ball out to me for a 3-pointer, they should feel great about that. For all of us, if we are doing the right thing, there will be a lot of opportunities.”

• DENI’S ROLE: A year ago, with Lillard out all season and Henderson sidelined for the first 51 games with a hamstring injury, the 6-8 Avdija was pressed into action as a point forward, often bringing the ball upcourt. He was a bull to the basket, finishing strong and shooting more free throws than anyone in the league besides Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

With Lillard and Morant on board, how will his role change?

“(It will be) very similar,” Nori said. “You saw what he was able to do with the ball in his hands. We would be crazy not to carry that over. The style we want to play, with all the ballhandlers we have, we don’t want to be a walk-it-up, slow-it-down, play ‘iso’ basketball. If we get it out, we have four guys who can make some plays in the open floor. They will all have opportunities to do so.

“It will be an organized freedom. We want to run into space, and then play out of it. When you can give guys the ball on the floor and get to where they want to go and get to the paint like Deni can, and you add these other pieces, and the shooting Dame will provide … you will see more of the same with Deni. Maybe not the whole 40 minutes, but he is going to have the ball in his hands plenty.”

Avdija sounds as if he welcomes the newcomers taking some of the responsibilities he had a year ago.

“I look at it as a positive,” he said. Lillard and Morant “are great players who bring a lot to the table. I can catch more off the run, run more in transition, I’m not going to get fatigued as much bringing the ball up the court. It makes the spacing a lot better. We can feed off each other. It’s a bonus for everybody.”

Avdija seems happy to share leadership responsibilities with Lillard.

“Dame has more experience than I do,” Avdija said. “He has been here for a long time. He knows how to lead a team. It is going to be nice having him around on the court. He is a great guy, a great player and a great addition for us.”

• LONG-RANGE SHOOTING: Last season, the Blazers cast up the fourth-most 3-point shots in the league (42.1 per game) but were only 28th in 3-point percentage (.341). Lillard is a career .371 shooter from beyond the arc, but Morant’s career percentage is only .311, and it was .235 in his 20 games last season.

“Dame will improve our shooting and spacing immediately, and there are some additions who will help in that category — Krejci (midway through last season), Micah Potter, Brenden Carlson,” Cronin said. “The thing we will count on the most, though, is the internal development of our shooters. They are taking good steps, though they still have steps to take. I don’t expect 3-point shooting to be a strength of ours, but I am not overly concerned with it.”

First-time head coach Micah Nori said the position is more about building relationships than X’s and O’s

•THE NEW COACH: Nori seems knowledgeable, affable and organized. In three months at his new position, he has come around to being what a head coach really is in the NBA.

“It is relationship-based so much more than just X’s and O’s,” he said. “When I first got into this, I thought it was, ‘How can I get a shot for this guy to win a game? How can we do this and that?’ But it truly comes down to building relationships with people, getting the most out of them individually and collectively as a group, and seeing what we can do on a nightly basis to win as many games as we can.”

Camara has been impressed.

“I like the way he communicates with players,” Camara said. “Very upfront. Makes jokes. Easy to talk to. But when it is time for business, when it is time to work, you know what he is about, what he is trying to do. We have the same goals. He has something to prove the same way we all do. He fits right in with the culture we are trying to build.”

Nori has made a good impression on Avdija, too.

“He really believes in our squad,” he said. “He brings good advice. He has a brilliant basketball mind. He is a competitor, a smart guy, well-respected around the league.”

Nori and Lillard have bonded over early-morning conversations at the training facility.

“It was often Dame and I sitting at the training table at 7 in the morning, talking about anything and everything,” Nori said.

“I got in about 7 in the morning, maybe a little before that,” Lillard said. “He was usually there. He would sit at the table and we would talk about a lot of stuff. Just being around him, you can feel he is a players’ coach. I can with him being an assistant for all those years, him having great relationships with all the players.

“Then you see the side of him that is a little more stern. That’s what I like. I like a tight ship. To see he had that side of him has been cool to see. Talking to him about basketball in general, you can tell as an assistant coach he was given a lot of responsibility. I feel like he is prepared for this.”

Holiday feels much the same way.

“Micah is a great dude to be around,” he said. “He has the character about him that makes the game fun and exciting, but at the same time, he has this ‘F-you’ attitude where he takes the game very seriously. He has a great balance in having both of those dynamics.”

Nori appreciates the leadership he has inherited from the two guards born less than a month apart in the summer of 1990.

“As a first-time head coach, to be able to come to a program with a Jrue Holiday and Dame Lillard takes a lot off of my plate,” he said. “They will help me control that locker room. They want to be coached, and they are about the right things.”

* DEFENSE: The Blazers finished 14th in team defensive rating last season, but were ranked among the top three in the league after the All-Star break. Even with Lillard and Morant in the backcourt, Nori thinks defense can be a strength.

“We have the luxury with having Donovan and Robert being behind (Lillard and Morant) to protect them, and on the wing you have Camara and Jrue, and even Deni is a very capable defender when he wants to be,” Nori said. “I don’t think you have to hide them; we have to make sure we are clean with what we’re doing. You have to mix in some zones. How do you protect those two guys? Everybody has people they have to try to hide, to protect a little bit more.

“I know Dame is going to compete (on defense). We are going to establish that and make a standard. Ja is excited. He has a chance to win again with a group of leaders he looks up to, so he can focus on being the best version of Ja.”

Another thought on the subject from the coach: “We are not going to be old-school and try to outscore people, but there is something to that. (Opponents) do have to be able to guard us at the other end as well.”

With Camara and Henderson, Nori will be inclined to establish an extended defensive presence.

“With the depth we have, we would be crazy not to apply pressure,” he said. “We talk about being physical up the floor. I’m not saying we’ll pick up from 94 feet, but we will pick up and establish a high line of scrimmage. We want to put on pressure. You only have to do it for 13 or 14 seconds.”

• EXPECTATIONS: The Blazers seemed careful about making predictions on Monday.

“We want to do better than last year,” Lillard said. “I see opportunity for Ja and me to help out with shot-making, play-making, with the experience of being out front with pressure and responsibility. There is no denying we have the talent. It is a matter of playing for each other, doing the right things, and we could be a hard team to deal with.”

Cronin said the focus is to create an environment that is conducive to winning.

“It is about building a sustainable winning culture,” he said. “We are well on our way, but still have a way to go. If we do that, immediately we are going to be very successful.

“With that comes some win expectations. I don’t think we have an exact number, but we expect to be very competitive on a nightly basis, to be in the playoff mix, to be capable of winning playoff series. We have a lot of work to do to accomplish those latter things.”

My prediction: 44-38 and sixth place in the West, behind San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Houston, Denver and Minnesota.

Coach Micah Nori says even with the addition of scorers Damian Lillard and Ja Morant, Deni Avdija will “have the ball in his hands plenty”

• OTHER ITEMS: Avdija said the back that bothered him at times last season is “99.9 percent good and ready. Just got to get in game shape.” …Avdija averaged 24.2 points, 6.9 points and 6.7 assists last season. The only other players to average 24, 6 and 6: Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic. … Camara drew 106 offensive fouls, breaking Anderson Varejao’s league record of 99 in 2006-07 for Cleveland. … Clingan led the league in offensive rebounds (347) and was fourth in blocked shots (130). … The Blazers averaged an NBA-high 17 turnovers last season. It will be interesting to see how the addition of Lillard and Morant affects that number. … Morant wore No. 12 with the Grizzlies, but it is unavailable because the Blazers plan to retire the number that Lamarcus Aldridge donned through nine seasons in Portland. Morant chose No. 1, the first number in 12. “My mom always told me, ‘Beneath no one,’ ” he said. “I’ve never been a 2.” … Morant’s biggest goal for this season: “(Playing) 82 games.” That is more than he has played the last three seasons combined.

Henderson said he has benefitted playing against the Blazers’ veteran guards in preseason pickup games: “I’m going at them. They’re going at me. That’s the best way to gain knowledge — in person. They are great guards already, and I’m a young aspiring guard trying to find that path. No better way to learn the game than from Dame, Jrue and Ja, pivotal point guards in the game, winners, great people. They are pouring into me and I’m pouring into them, too, with what I can.” … Holiday is bullish on Scoot: “You saw it in the playoffs last year. He can take you full court, 94 feet. One of the strongest guys on the team. You can tell how competitive he is; how he hates to lose. And he is a gym rat. He is only getting better at the things he wants to get better at. Every time I play with Scoot, I know I am going to have a chance to win, because that boy is going to fight. He goes against us like he doesn’t care who we are, and I love that about him.” … Sharpe is the only player remaining from Lillard’s first run with the Blazers, which ended with the 2022-23 season.

Dewayne Hankins, the Blazers’ president of business operations, says the team is “very close” to hiring a replacement for TV play-by-play voice Kevin Calabro. Sources say the Blazers will choose between Braiden Bell, play-by-play man for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury and G-League Suns, and Kyle Draper, former TV play-by-play man for the Sacramento Kings. Bell is thought to be the front-runner. Calabro will be calling games for the Timberwolves next season. … Travis Demers will continue with radio play-by-play but will be a part-time employee and will call road games from the Moda Center studio. The only other team that won’t send a radio announcer on the road this season is the Toronto Raptors.    … Hankins told the media Monday that the renewal rate for season tickets is at 94 percent, and that ticket revenues are up 22 percent. That seems at odds with what he told the Portland City Council in August, that “Portland’s divisive political environment makes it harder to sell tickets.”

When asked about the discrepancy, Hankins said this: “Two things can be true. Our fans show up and do an incredible job supporting this team, and when you have an audience like the city council, you want to take advantage of that opportunity. I have conversations all the time with several corporate partners about the ability to do business here in Portland, that there are some challenges with that. In front of you guys, (I can say) we can have an incredible offseason and hit all the revenue goals we want to hit. But when I have an audience with the city council, which has made it challenging to do business in Portland, I want to take advantage of the opportunity to tell them (they can) do better. The last couple of years since the pandemic, attendance has been challenging. I felt like it was important for us to take a stand and have an approach with the city council that was something they needed to hear. I have gotten a lot of praise from business leaders who know they can’t have that audience with the city. There are certain city council meetings who won’t take meetings with presidents and CEOs because they view it as a negative on their calendar to get re-elected.” My take: Hankins is in between a rock and a hard place in his 13th year with the club but first working for new owner Tom Dundon. He is carrying water for Dundon while protecting his own job. Can’t blame him for that.

Lillard, asked how he felt about the possibility that Dundon will move the franchise:

“I have embraced Portland. This is my second home. Oakland is where I am from, but Portland is my home. I have lived here 15 years. As much as I am a Trail Blazer, I’m a Portland person. I don’t see that happening. I don’t see a world where the Trail Blazers aren’t in Portland. I pray that that day never comes. I know how important the Trail Blazers are to this city. I would hate to see that happen.” … Hankins on the subject: “We are committed to Portland. We are committed to a deal that works for our ownership. We are committed to a deal that works for our public partners. We are doing everything we can to ensure that the Trail Blazers stay right here. … We are meeting regularly with the city, twice a week, more than that. The mayor (Keith Wilson) said he wants to meet every day. We will make time to do that. We would love to get this solved with the city. There is nothing more important.”

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