TUALATIN - The Portland Trail Blazers’ second day of training camp brought a harder edge than the first, and not in a good way.
The energy was there. The pace was there, too. What wasn’t there was enough care with the basketball or enough work on the glass, and coach Micah Nori made it clear that those misses stood out.
“Today was not as sharp as yesterday, which is somewhat to be expected,” Nori said Wednesday at the team’s practice facility in Tualatin. “It’s kind of like when you play a big game and then you have a little bit of a letdown.
“It’s a little disheartening. I mean, after Day 2, you’re not disheartened.
But the things that are a little bit concerning are the things that we value and deem very, very important and points of emphasis. When those things slip, you just really can’t count that as a good day.”
Ball security was supposed to be a priority for this group after the Blazers averaged an NBA-high 17.0 turnovers per game last season. Nori said when he took over, he intended for the team to value the ball more and clean up that problem.
That didn’t happen Wednesday.
Ja Morant said the defense was a big part of the issue. He felt the pressure was enough to speed up the offense and knock it out of rhythm.
“I just felt like we played a little fast,” Morant said. “Obviously, we’re a pressure team, so it’s a good thing that our defense is speeding us up. But we’ve still just got to take care of the ball … that was really the intent on practice today.”
Donovan Clingan pointed the finger back at himself when the conversation turned to defensive rebounding. The center said it starts with him.
“Being the big, it starts with me,” he said. “When the ball comes off the rim and hits your hands, it’s my job to just squeeze it and grab every rebound.
And today I didn’t do the best of that. But I know what I’m capable of and tomorrow’s a new day.”
Morant’s role has already become one of the more interesting camp developments. When Portland acquired him in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, the move raised plenty of questions.
He has been limited to just 79 games over the last three seasons because of injuries. He also joins a position group that already has plenty of talent and depth.
And he doesn’t solve the Blazers’ biggest issue from last season, 3-point shooting.
At least early in camp, though, Morant has looked comfortable in a different way. As he builds chemistry with Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson, he’s spending more time off the ball than usual. Morant called that a “good” thing, saying it has taken him out of a “ball-dominant” role and opened up more catch-and-shoot chances from deep.
That matters because his long-range track record has not been strong. Morant has shot 31% from 3-point range in his career, including 23.5% in 20 games last season. But he brushed off any concern about the numbers.
“I’m always confident,” he said, when asked about his 3-point shooting. “It’s just about the looks, that’s all.”
Clingan backed up the idea that Morant’s jumper has been falling in camp.
“It’s been on,” Clingan confirmed. “He’s been making a lot of shots, a lot of catch-and-shoots, off the dribble. He’s been shooting the ball really well.”
While that side of camp has drawn attention, Nori is still sorting out something more fundamental: who starts.
Damian Lillard said Tuesday that he had spent a lot of time early in camp alongside Morant, Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara and Clingan, a group many expect could be Portland’s opening night lineup. But Nori said Wednesday he is keeping his options open.
He plans to rotate different starters through the Blazers’ four exhibition games so he can see multiple combinations in game settings. Between those games, he’s also taking an unusual approach in practice.
Most NBA teams break up their top players in preseason scrimmages to create more even five-on-five competition. Nori has gone the other way, putting his top eight or nine players on the same side.
Lillard, Morant, Avdija, Camara, Clingan, Robert Williams III, Holiday and Henderson have mostly been together on the “Black” team. Nori said that setup helps him and his staff evaluate the rotation as a whole, not just the starting five, while also building familiarity among the players he expects to lean on most.
“Nothing is set in stone,” Nori said. “You could probably read into it a little bit and all that, but at the end of the day, we’re just trying to make sure that we get those nine guys playing together as much as possible.”
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