Portland must make their first attack count

Portland knows how to recover a missed shot. Now it must learn to lean less on that second chance. After returning to the playoffs, the team hands Micah Nori a group in which Ja Morant joins Damian Lillard, back on the court, and Deni Avdija. Sharing the ball among them without weakening the defence will be the first job of the 2026–2027 season.

With 42 wins and 40 losses in the 2025–2026 regular season, the Trail Blazers finished with a winning record and returned to the playoffs after four seasons away. Their run ended in the first round. That gives the new staff a foundation, but it does not erase the difficulty of producing a consistent attack.

Portland scored 115.5 points and conceded 115.8 per game last season. Its offensive efficiency, measured per possession, ranked only 21st. A points total also depends on tempo and extra shooting opportunities. The Blazers lived heavily off the offensive rebound; they must become more reliable on their first attempt.

Nori takes charge of the team after serving as an assistant, notably in Minnesota. His job is first to organise responsibilities that could overlap. Giving each creator a place does not mean reserving the same possessions for him every game. The combinations able to start, restart and finish a game may differ.

Ja Morant arrived from Memphis in a trade that sent out Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. He gives Portland an additional creator able to put the defence under pressure with his bursts of acceleration. Branden Carlson and Micah Potter strengthen the interior options. Jeremy Sochan is also in the group, with a rotation place still to be earned.

Lillard's case is different: his return to Portland dates from the summer of 2025, but he did not play in 2025–2026, a season devoted to rehabilitating his Achilles tendon. He has now resumed in the preseason, notably against Golden State and Sacramento. This return to competition opens a new chapter in his second spell in Portland; his rhythm over a full season remains to be rebuilt.

Jrue Holiday was also already on the roster last season. His presence gives Nori another option to run the offence and defend on the perimeter. Conversely, the absence of Shaedon Sharpe narrows the possibilities: injured in the meniscus of his right knee in August, he remains unavailable, with no return date established.

Our starting projection pairs Lillard, Morant, Camara, Avdija and Donovan Clingan. It remains conditional and is not an official line-up for the opener. It gives two perimeter creators, two forwards able to fill several roles and a centre tasked with protecting the rim and chasing missed shots.

Holiday and Scoot Henderson are the first backcourt reliefs envisaged. Their usefulness will depend on how Nori shares possessions between starters and bench. Vít Krejčí and Sidy Cissoko can offer other combinations on the perimeter. Robert Williams III brings an interior option, while Yang Hansen, Carlson and Potter widen the choices at centre. Sochan can come into some more mobile units, subject to his actual place in the retained group.

The closing five may follow a different logic from the starting one. It will then be necessary to choose between more creation, more size or more defence on the ball handler. Portland will not settle that question by adding up the best-known names: the spacing between players and their ability to defend together will count too.

The Blazers scored 18.4 points per game on second chances in 2025–2026. Clingan and Robert Williams III grabbed 14.9% and 13.3% respectively of the available offensive rebounds while on the court. They ranked second and seventh among the 305 players who played at least 40 games at an average of 15 minutes or more. That percentage describes how often rebounds are recovered, not shooting accuracy.

This resource offset some of the difficulties of the first attempt, but the 16.9 turnovers per 100 possessions, the highest total in the league, also held Portland back. Morant and Lillard must help create cleaner looks. Their presence will, however, have to cut down on wasted possessions rather than merely add dribbling options.

The mechanism to watch is simple: a first drive must produce a good shot or a pass that keeps the advantage. If it ends in a turnover, Clingan has no rebound to chase. If too many players stay near the rim, access to the basket and passing become harder. Outside shooting and defensive transition will have to go hand in hand with the offensive rebounding.

Portland host Phoenix on Wednesday 21 October at 22:00 US Eastern time, which is 3:00 on Thursday 22 October in Brazzaville. This first regular-season game will show how responsibilities are initially shared against the Suns.

Find the Phoenix–Portland match page, the Trail Blazers' squad and fixtures and the NBA calendar on SNA. The projections in this guide remain to be checked against availability and the choices announced before each game.