The Portland Trail Blazers have come out of the gate at 6-2, and even after Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers handed them a loss on Friday night, they still look like the team best positioned to spring a first-round playoff surprise in 2027.
There’s a lot working in Portland’s favor right now, and it starts with how the roster is fitting together under Micah Nori. The injury to Vit Krejci is a hit, no question, and it trims down Nori’s 10-man rotation. But the Blazers still have plenty to like, even with Ja Morant currently out with a hamstring issue.
One of the biggest reasons for the buzz is Deni Avdija sliding back into the point-forward role that worked so well before. He’s thriving in that spot and is on track to be named an All-Star again this season. The comparison here is a more balanced version of Domantas Sabonis with a better offensive game, and Avdija has become the engine that drives everything Portland does.
Damian Lillard is back in Portland and looks comfortable, while Jrue Holiday has quietly started building a case for Sixth Man of the Year. He’s also the team’s most important piece off the bench. Holiday’s defensive instincts help cover some of the ground lost with Krejci sidelined, even though he’s a point guard.
Nori looks like the right coach at the right time for this group. Portland’s numbers back that up, too: the Trail Blazers own the league’s second-best offensive rating at 120 points per game and sit just outside the top 10 defensively at 111.4.
That balance, along with the fact that everyone seems to understand this is Avdija’s team, is what makes Portland such a tricky matchup. A team like the Houston Rockets or even the San Antonio Spurs could find that out the hard way. There are echoes of last season’s Phoenix Suns here - fun, feisty, and committed to every possession - except Portland already looks capable of taking that formula a step further.
And that’s the bigger point: you don’t win a championship or even a playoff series in November, but you can absolutely put yourself in position to lose one. The Blazers are already doing the hard part by winning through early setbacks, and they’ve shown they understand who they are.
If they keep stacking wins and really hit another gear after the All-Star break, they could enter the playoffs ready to make noise and carry that momentum into next season.
In Other News...
Scoot Henderson Questions Are Growing As Blazers Old Problems Return
The Trail Blazers first road loss of the season in Los Angeles did more than snap a perfect start away from home. It also brought back a familiar set of problems that have shadowed Portland since last season, especially the kind of sloppiness with the ball and on the glass that can undo otherwise competitive nights.
Scoot Henderson sits at the center of some of the bigger questions now, because his play has not matched the expectations that followed him into this season. Portland has shown signs of improvement in a few areas, but the recurring issues around ball security and defensive rebounding, along with Hendersons uneven production, are making the rotation picture feel less settled than the Blazers would like. [Read more 🡒]
Blazers Loss To Lakers Exposed What Theyre Missing Without Ja Morant
The Trail Blazers 124-118 loss to the Lakers was a reminder that even a strong start can look a lot shakier when the offense gets loose. Portland coughed the ball up 24 times, double Los Angeles total, and the game exposed how much the Blazers lean on Ja Morant to steady the group and keep the attack organized.
Morant has been out with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and is expected to miss most or all of November, leaving Portland to patch together its playmaking in the meantime. Even with the defeat, the Blazers are still 6-2, a start that suggests they can survive the early stretch, but this one showed how much better they should look once Morant is back directing the offense. [Read more 🡒]
Blazers Suddenly Face A Bigger Scoot Henderson Decision Than Expected
Scoot Hendersons future in Portland has become a more complicated question than it looked a few months ago. The Trail Blazers are weighing the value of a young guard still trying to find his footing against the appeal of a more established piece in Nickeil Alexander-Walker, whose improved play and longer contract would give the roster a different kind of stability.
For Portland, the decision is less about talent in a vacuum than about timing, fit and the realities of restricted free agency down the road. Any move involving Henderson would carry real strategic weight, especially with Atlanta emerging as a possible trade partner, but for now it remains a matter of possibility rather than something that has actually been put in motion. [Read more 🡒]