- Editor’s Note: For the upcoming Sports Illustrated 2026–27 basketball preview magazine that will hit newsstands in October, SI spoke to anonymous scouts around the NBA about all 30 teams.
Portland punched above its weight in the Western Conference last season as the Trail Blazers earned the No. 7 seed with a 42–40 playoff record and a win over the Suns to open the play-in tournament. The Trail Blazers could fall out of the playoff mix this season, however.
Deni Avdija led the way last season in his breakout campaign, dropping 24.2 points per game and earning his first All-Star nod. He helped the Blazers have a say in the stacked conference following a sudden coaching change to start the year. Despite Tiago Splitter’s success as interim coach, Blazers owner Tom Dundon’s cost-cutting measures led to another coaching change over the offseason.
Longtime NBA assistant Micah Nori, who was most recently at the top of Chris Finch’s staff in Minnesota, is the new head man for the Blazers. Dundon didn’t want to put considerable funds into a head coach, which led to Splitter departing for the Bulls. Nori is a good hire, but he only has one guaranteed season on his three-year deal with team options on the final two seasons, which makes it difficult to build something sustainable on an already wonky roster.
“I don’t like how things look in Portland,” an anonymous NBA scout told Sports Illustrated. “Bad ownership, a coach with a bad contract and bad players together. Bad fits. Everything in Portland is a bad fit right now, top to bottom. They have got some guys. I like Toumani Camara. I like Shaedon Sharpe, when he is healthy. But if you are asking me which team falls out of the playoffs, they are at the top of the list.”
On the court, the guard room is extremely crowded, which will force general manager Joe Cronin to make decisions sooner rather than later. The move to buy low on Ja Morant could define Portland’s season, although he was acquired for the low cost of salary filler. A fresh start could do wonders for Morant, but he steps into a backcourt alongside Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson and Damian Lillard, who will return this season after rehabbing a torn Achilles.
- Anonymous scouts break down each Western Conference team: Clippers | Grizzlies | Jazz | Kings | Lakers | Mavericks | Nuggets | Pelicans | Rockets | Spurs | Suns | Thunder | Timberwolves | Trail Blazers | Warriors
Morant has played 79 total games over the past three seasons as he’s dealt with injuries and a number of off-court issues that led to a messy breakup with the Grizzlies. When available, he’s an electric finisher who can make plays for his teammates, but the issue is Lillard and Avdija also need the ball in their hands. Plus, the Blazers need to figure out if Henderson is a part of their future as he’s headed for restricted free agency next summer.
“We will probably see a more available Ja. He might play in games,” the scout told SI. “He's got a bad knee, doesn't really work on his physical fitness, I doubt that he's all of a sudden become an elite-level shooter, and he's small. So you have that, you've got a bad defender who's a small guard who can't shoot, who physically is unfit, paired next to a small guard who's a bad defender and who can shoot [in Lillard]. So probably going to be tough.”
On the bright side, Avdija is currently on one of the best contracts in the NBA. However, he’s eligible for a contract extension and will be due for a massive payday should his play continue. That wrinkle should keep a heavy load of on-ball work for Avdija, which makes the slew of guards even more questionable. Sharpe will miss considerable time with a torn meniscus, which gives Nori additional minutes to work with as he figures out which backcourt combinations work best. Losing Sharpe is a big loss, but by the time he’s healthy, maybe Portland will have figured out the guard conundrum—possibly through a trade to consolidate the backcourt depth into a much-needed wings.
The issue? Holiday and Morant’s contracts would be incredibly difficult to get off of.
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Down low, Donovan Clingan was one of the NBA’s best rebounders last year in just his second season. He’s an elite rim protector, too, but he still has some work to do to prove he’s worthy of a considerable rookie extension, which he’s eligible for next summer.
“Defensively, [the Blazers] need a DPOY type of year from Clingan,” the scout said. “I think he has some upside and can be pretty impactful. Still got to improve his fitness level, but I thought he showed growth from year one to year two, and he continues on that he's probably going to be a nice player. But he is going to have a lot of work to do defending against dribble penetration.”
A promising young center, an All-Star scoring wing and an interesting mix of guards isn’t an awful recipe, but the Blazers will need time to figure out the glaring logjam. Even more important, what version of Morant will Portland get? If the experiment crashes and burns, the Blazers will have his massive salary ($42 million and $44 million) on their books for two more seasons.
It just doesn’t seem like the Blazers have enough to keep up with the Western Conference powers or even the up-and-coming teams like the Jazz.
Offseason Recap
- Who’s in: Ja Morant, Branden Carlson, Jeremy Sochan, Micah Potter, Robert Williams III (re-signed)
- Who’s out: Jerami Grant, Kris Murray, Matisse Thybulle
Roster wise, the only considerable move the Blazers made over the offseason was the splashy trade for Morant. Since his value deteriorated in Memphis, Portland only had to give up Jerami Grant and Kris Murray (and no draft capital) to get the deal done. What the offseason did leave, though, is a lack of depth at forward. After Camara and Avdija, Portland doesn’t have any more true wings unless Jeremy Sochan makes the roster off his training camp deal. And that leaves much to be desired.
Maybe the Blazers trade Henderson for some help, but moving on from the No. 3 pick from three years ago for fill-in depth wouldn’t be great business. Camara certainly helps as a strong perimeter defender, but he can’t do it all by himself aside a lackluster defensive guard duo in Morant and Lillard. Holiday can help offset the defensive concerns, but he’s not getting any younger.
SI’s prediction for the 2026-27 Trail Blazers
The West will be a gauntlet—one the Blazers have too many questions to seriously compete in. Portland will likely hover around the play-in range once again, but the best case in that scenario is a likely series with the Thunder or the Spurs. And we saw how that worked out for the Blazers last year. More importantly, Portland’s year is about picking a direction moving forward.
