The talk of the town across Rip City this summer has been all about Moda Center renovations, potential relocation, new ownership’s unwillingness to spend, and, well, just about everything except basketball.
It’s time to change that.
Here at Oregon Sports News, we’re ready for a palate cleanser, and we know you are too.
OSN’s Bryant Knox and Casey Mabbott are set to ask and answer some of the most pressing questions surrounding this team. Questions that have nothing to do with the long-term future of the franchise but instead the immediate impact of this offseason’s basketball moves.
Because once the noise surrounding the franchise fades into the background, there is still a fascinating roster worth discussing. How will the new pieces fit? Which returning players are poised to take a leap? And should the team make one more move before training camp in September?
Let’s get into it.
Can Damian Lillard and Ja Morant Really Start Next To Each Other?
Knox: If the Ja Morant trade wasn’t polarizing enough, reports of the Blazers’ plan to start him alongside Damian Lillard added fuel to the fire.
On paper, the decision is confusing. Both stars play the same position, and both can be high-usage players. But there’s an X-factor here: Lillard should be playing off the ball more than ever before in his career.
With Ja and Deni Avdija as playmakers, Lillard can settle into more of a pure-shooter role at the 2. Don’t think of it like a Klay Thompson or Ray Allen role where that’s all he’ll do. Think of it more like how Stephen Curry built a legacy off his “relocation 3s” being a threat on the ball but also being someone a defender must still track once he passes and relocates to the corner.
During his last season in Portland before the Milwaukee Bucks trade, Lillard averaged a career-high 11.3 three-pointers per game. I think he’ll exceed that number this year with ease, and he’ll probably launch more deep balls than anyone else in the league. His catch-and-shoot abilities will be on display more than we’ve ever seen before. And it should fit him and the Blazers’ scheme well in Year 1 of this new experiment.
Mabbott: It may sound crazy anywhere else, but we have seen this movie in Portland a few times, and Lillard is usually the main character. But now that we are later in the franchise, we are starting to introduce new characters to take over for the next generation while not sending the OG out just yet. Lillard made beautiful basketball music with former backcourt partner CJ McCollum and later ran a similar system with Anfernee Simons.
The big question now is which version of Lillard will be out there? He hasn’t played in over a year, and we will have to find out how much his body fights him when he finally gets back out there. I will never doubt Lillard, as he has been proving people wrong since the first minutes of his rookie season. I wonder how long he will need to adjust to this team and his new body after an Achilles injury sidelined him for an entire season. Typically, players start to slow down as they get into the final act of their careers, and we don’t know yet if Lillard will need to be more specific about how much he runs up and down the court and saves some miles for more important games – he may even need to take the occasional game off.
I think Bryant is spot on that Lillard will need to be an off-ball player at the two spot and help this young backcourt grow while providing clutch jumpers and the occasional fast break. Of course he can still throw up threes from the logo to suit his name, but if this pairing works as advertised, then he shouldn’t have to be that guy quite as much anymore. For once, Lillard should have a well-rounded roster that can take over games when he needs a break – or at least doesn’t blow a lead when he’s not on the court.
Do You Have More Faith In Scoot Henderson or Shaedon Sharpe?
Mabbott: I think Scoot has more potential, but I am really questioning if that dude is ever going to be an every-game player or continue to be an x-factor but never the factor. I love what Scoot brings to the table; I question if he’s going to turn the corner. We thought we were seeing it happen live in the playoffs (like CJ against Memphis before becoming a full-time starter), but he quickly regressed to his previous style of picking his moments instead of attacking all game. He has so much energy, speed, and ferocity that he should be forcing the defense to play 60 minutes of hell. Still, instead we usually only see him for about twenty, and he’s not doing a one-man full-court press that entire time even though he absolutely can.
Sharpe has the more well-rounded game and fits more cleanly in this roster as a starter but still has some things to work on before he will be a staple on the court either. I have more faith in Sharpe as he has more consistency in his career, but he’s nowhere near the nightly gamer he could be if he locks in. Hopefully a new system that focuses on team offensive talent and pressuring the other team to be perfect will benefit Sharpe so he isn’t trying to play the hero (see a recurring theme with backcourt players yet?) quite so much and can pass when he doesn’t get the right look, but that will come with time.
Knox: I really want to have faith in both. And in some ways, I still do. But while Shaedon Sharpe may have the higher scoring ceiling, I have more faith in Scoot Henderson becoming the more valuable all-around player.
Scoot’s progress as a decision-maker, defender and floor general has been easier to track, even amid injury problems and inconsistent shooting and finishing. Sharpe’s flashes remain spectacular, but flashes sustain optimism only so long, and his shooting and defense have been problems. In fact, they were big enough problems to reduce his role drastically in the playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs. (He averaged just 13.6 minutes per game and played just six minutes in the elimination Game 5.)
Scoot impacts more areas of the game, and his competitiveness gives him a clearer path toward becoming either a reliable long-term starter or a cheat-code sixth man. Sharpe will likely have to play some small forward this season, and while a change could do him some good, he’s also undersized for the position.
Is the Backcourt Logjam a Good Problem to Have or a Real Concern?
Knox: I think the way Portland has built its roster has created a good problem. If Scoot Henderson backs up Ja Morant, and Jrue Holiday plays behind Damian Lillard, you have one of the most talented 4-man guard rotations in the league. Then, if Sharpe can improve his shot and find consistency on defense at the 3 behind Deni Avdija, you end up with a 6-man wing rotation that every team in the league would want.
Of course, there’s concern that not everyone will fit, that there won’t be enough shots to go around, or that players like Scoot and Shaedon never live up to their potential. Those are real issues that could bite the Trail Blazers.
On the flip side, if someone isn’t working out or becomes disgruntled, there’s always the February trade deadline. Portland has some of the best trade assets in the NBA between its young players and future draft picks. The hope is that the players find a groove and stick, of course. But if they don’t, general manager Joe Cronin can flip one of the reserves to better balance the roster.
Mabbott: Right now I think it’s a great problem to have, especially since all four are injury-prone and could miss time at any moment. Having two other guys perfectly capable of taking over as the starter is the exact situation you want a first-time head coach to be in, and with all four of them able to run point, you never have to worry about the offense being clunky if one of them isn’t out there. That puts a lot of pressure on opposing defenses to be perfect, and their coaches will have trouble helping their players know what to expect if a certain guy isn’t going to play.
It also means we might see some of the best ball movement the city has ever seen. If this team can share the ball and play selflessly with so much firepower on the court at any given time, they could be really scary. They may not be able to overwhelm other teams since two of the guys are not known for that side of the game, but they can make up for it with a lot of effort.
If we get into next year and it didn’t work this year, or you have too many of the four missing too much time, maybe you reassess, but you want as many shooters on your team as possible. We said last year Portland needed more shooters; well, they now have at least two more than they did in April.
Will Deni Avdija Be An All-Star In 2027?
Mabbott: I don’t know if he’s going to be able to be the nightly focal point with more talent at the ready this season, and that’s a good thing. His usage may drop slightly, but if he stays efficient, he should be able to put up better overall numbers, especially with the other team’s best defender having to choose his target each possession instead of focusing on one player all game. That should mean more easy opportunities for Deni, and as long as he capitalizes on them, he should be among the best scorers in the game and will likely catapult himself into the all-star spotlight.
On the flip side, if the other shooters take too many points away from him, he may be viewed as a guy who did great in a situation where he was allowed to be the primary shooter in a weak group and now shares the ball more and isn’t as big of a name in a crowded offense. I would venture a guess he will take winning games as a team over individual achievements. Still, I think if he plays like he did last year and does it on another level because he takes fewer opportunities and converts them at a higher clip while the team wins a lot of games and is a constant in the mouths of talking heads, the fans will take notice and put his name on their ballots.
Knox: If you ask me, Deni Avdija’s leap last season should have earned him Most Improved Player in addition to his All-Star appearance. He was incredible, and almost nobody saw it coming.
That said, his usage rate ranked top 30 in the league, and that won’t happen again in 2026-27. The Blazers are adding Lillard and Morant to the rotation while hoping Scoot remains healthy all season.
The USA vs. The World format helps Avdija because one roster must feature international stars. Still, competition for those spots is fierce, and a dip in production could make last year’s appearance difficult to repeat.
Do You Want To See More or Less Yang Hansen This Season?
Knox: Yang Hansen needs consistent playing time for Portland to evaluate which parts of his intriguing skill set can translate against NBA competition. That means living with mistakes, especially defensively, while giving him opportunities to pass, screen and make decisions within the offense.
Of course, the Blazers shouldn’t force-feed him minutes he has not earned, nor should his development come at the expense of better lineups every night. The re-signing of Robert Williams, in addition to the Micah Potter pickup, means minutes will be tough to come by, especially if Donovan Clingan shows improvement and can get above 30 minutes per night.
Still, another season spent watching him in the G League would accomplish little. Give Yang a small rotation role, let him work through growing pains, and then reassess around midseason.
Mabbott: I think Yang has a lot of work to do to earn a real role on the team, but unless Clingan comes into camp leaner and meaner, I think the team will have to share some of his minutes to give their beast some rest as teams try to run him ragged and force him to prove he can be a modern center in a skinny man’s game. Sure, other teams make it work with big centers who can’t run up and down the court all game without a lot of breaks. Still, those teams usually don’t play much up-tempo basketball and rely on half-court concepts to force defenses to cover their monster in the middle one-on-one and in slow motion. Clingan can run with the offense in spurts but starts to make sloppy mistakes when he gets tired, and that won’t work against elite competition. Yang may not be capable of subbing in for Clingan in long spells yet, but he can split time with Williams as the primary backup. Or maybe they can give him some run as a power forward, which might be closer to his natural skill set. I prefer to think Portland didn’t invest a first-round pick on a guy that shouldn’t be on the court yet, but it appears to be the case. I think he will have a better chance of becoming a contributor if he gets game time against the best and can size up where his shortcomings might be.
Do you Want To See 1 More Trade Before The 2026-27 Campaign?
Mabbott: You have a new coach, a new starter in Ja, and Lillard returning from injury. At this point, a trade sounds nuts. Who would you get and how does that impact a roster that doesn’t even know what it can do yet? Might as well hold on to your assets for now and see what you have. If this lineup gels and works quickly, you will be happy you didn’t make a move, but if it becomes clear early on that someone is the odd man out, you can always look to make a deal in the winter. For now, you should see what your first-time coach can do with the roster you made for him and not ask him to find a way to loop in yet another person brand new to his system with camp just around the corner. Keep it simple for the new guy and see what he can cook up before you make any more changes.
Knox: When the Ja Morant trade was announced, it felt like a precursor to a second move. Trey Murphy had to be coming next. Or maybe Lu Dort. Or Zion Williamson. Right? Right???
I was fully on board with one final swing, but I’ve since talked myself down. Now, I’m ready to see what these Trail Blazers can do as constructed, backcourt logjam and all. I want to find out whether the four-guard rotation can be as lethal as it looks on paper. I also want to see whether Sharpe can force new head coach Micah Nori to give him the minutes so many of us believe he deserves.
Trading Sharpe or Scoot has felt possible all summer, and any true contender would love to add Jrue Holiday to its rotation. Joe Cronin has plenty of assets to dangle for a legitimate small forward or power forward.
But I’m not ready to give up on this experiment before it begins. Let’s see how the pieces fit, then reassess ahead of February’s trade deadline.
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