Portland Reloaded: Ja Morant, Damian Lillard Give Trail Blazers Plenty to Watch

The Portland Trail Blazers have spent the last several seasons searching for what comes next. This year, the answer might finally be sitting in their own backcourt.

Ja Morant is in Portland. Damian Lillard is healthy and ready to play again. And suddenly, a Trail Blazers team that spent years building around youth enters the 2026-27 season with one of the NBA’s most fascinating collections of talent.

Portland is coming off a 42-40 season that ended its four-year playoff drought, but expectations have changed considerably since then. Morant arrived in a summer trade with Memphis, Lillard is returning from the torn Achilles that cost him all of last season, and first-year head coach Micah Nori now has the difficult task of turning an unusually deep roster into a legitimate Western Conference threat. (NBA.com)

A Fresh Start for Ja Morant

There may not be a player in basketball who needed a change of scenery more than Morant.

Portland acquired the two-time All-Star from Memphis in late June, sending Jerami Grant and Kris Murray to the Grizzlies. Morant arrives after averaging 19.5 points and 8.1 assists in just 20 games last season, with a left elbow injury contributing to another shortened year. (NBA.com)

At 27, however, Morant is still young enough for Portland to believe his best basketball is not necessarily behind him.

When healthy and at his best, few guards place as much pressure on a defense. His first step changes possessions almost immediately. Defenders collapse when he reaches the paint, passing lanes open and Portland suddenly has an explosive downhill creator unlike anyone it had a year ago.

Training camp has already provided a glimpse at how his game could evolve. Morant has talked about receiving more catch-and-shoot opportunities than he was accustomed to in Memphis — something that could become particularly important when he shares the floor with Lillard and Portland’s other ball handlers. (Blazer’s Edge)

This isn’t Memphis anymore. Morant doesn’t necessarily have to carry everything.

And that might be exactly what he needs.

Dame Time Comes Home — For Real This Time

There is also something undeniably fitting about Damian Lillard being part of this.

Lillard requested a trade out of Portland in 2023 after 11 seasons with the franchise, eventually landing in Milwaukee alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo. The partnership created championship expectations but never produced the deep postseason run Milwaukee envisioned.

Then came the torn Achilles during the 2025 playoffs.

Lillard eventually returned to the organization that drafted him, signing with Portland in July 2025, but the injury kept him off the court for the entire 2025-26 season. That makes this year different.

This is the actual basketball return.

For the first time since leaving Portland, Lillard is preparing to wear a Trail Blazers uniform in a regular-season game again. Now 36, he returns to a franchise that looks drastically different from the one he left. (NBA.com)

He also doesn’t need to be the same Lillard who once had to manufacture nearly everything for Portland’s offense.

That could work in his favor.

The last time Lillard played, he was still producing at an All-Star level. He averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 assists for Milwaukee in 2024-25 while shooting 37.6 percent from three. Asking him to immediately reproduce those numbers following an Achilles tear would be ambitious, but Portland doesn’t need to build its entire season around that possibility. (NBA.com)

Instead, Lillard can pick his moments.

And if the Trail Blazers get anything close to the shot-making and late-game confidence that defined his first run in Portland, they suddenly have one of basketball’s most accomplished closers standing next to one of its most explosive guards.

This Team Is More Than Morant and Lillard

The temptation will be to make Portland’s season entirely about its new superstar backcourt.

That would overlook how the Trail Blazers got here.

Deni Avdija emerged as arguably Portland’s most important player last season, increasing his scoring average from 16.9 to 24.2 points per game and finishing third in Most Improved Player voting. Donovan Clingan established himself as a legitimate interior presence, leading the NBA with 4.5 offensive rebounds per game while ranking among the league leaders in rebounding and blocks. (NBA.com)

Toumani Camara gives Portland another defensive weapon on the perimeter. Shaedon Sharpe still provides explosive scoring potential. Scoot Henderson remains part of the organization’s young guard group. Jeremy Sochan adds another versatile forward to the rotation, while Robert Williams III gives Portland additional size and rim protection when available. (NBA.com)

And then there is Jrue Holiday.

With Holiday, Morant, Lillard and Henderson all on the roster, Portland has an almost absurd amount of guard talent. General manager Joe Cronin has acknowledged that several of those players are most comfortable with the basketball in their hands, leaving Nori to determine how the pieces fit together. (NBA.com)

That could become Portland’s greatest strength.

It could also become its biggest puzzle.

Finding the Right Combination

There are only so many possessions to go around.

Morant needs the ball. Lillard has spent his career controlling an offense. Avdija earned a larger playmaking role with his performance last season. Holiday can initiate offense. Henderson needs opportunities to continue developing.

Someone will have to sacrifice.

Nori has indicated that Portland isn’t locking itself into a starting five yet, emphasizing during training camp that the players who finish games could matter considerably more than those who start them. Matchups, defense, shooting and availability could all influence his closing combinations. (Blazer’s Edge)

That’s probably the correct approach.

There will be nights when Portland needs Morant’s speed. Others when it needs Holiday’s defense. There will be possessions that belong to Avdija and, inevitably, moments when the Moda Center crowd knows exactly who should have the basketball.

Lillard has made a career out of those.

The intriguing part is that Portland no longer needs one player to solve every problem.

A Different Kind of Trail Blazers Season

Portland opens its regular season Oct. 21 at home against Phoenix, beginning a year that could reveal whether this roster is simply interesting or legitimately dangerous. (Roundtable.io Network)

There are fair questions.

Can Lillard remain productive at 36 after a torn Achilles? Can Morant rediscover the form that made him one of basketball’s brightest young stars? Can Portland keep enough touches available for Avdija, Sharpe and Henderson? And can Nori establish roles without taking away the qualities that make each of these players effective?

Nobody knows those answers yet.

That’s what makes Portland worth watching.

Three years ago, Lillard’s trade request seemed to officially close one of the most memorable chapters in Trail Blazers history. He left for Milwaukee searching for an opportunity to compete alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo for a championship.

Now he’s back.

But he isn’t returning to rescue the same franchise he left behind.

Morant is here. Avdija has developed into a centerpiece. Clingan anchors the middle. Camara provides defensive toughness. Holiday brings championship experience, and Portland’s young players have grown up considerably while Lillard has been away.

For years, the Trail Blazers were Damian Lillard’s team.

The most interesting question entering 2026-27 isn’t whether they can become his team again.

It’s what Portland can become now that he doesn’t have to do it alone.