Micah Nori doesn’t have to sell Portland on defense. He just has to make sure it doesn’t slip.
At Blazers Media Day on Monday, the first-year head coach pointed straight to what worked after the All-Star break last season, when the team surged under interim coach Tiago Splitter before Splitter moved on to the Chicago Bulls. Nori wants that same edge to carry into the 2026-27 season, and he made it clear that the Blazers’ identity still starts on that end.
“What I'd like to do is build on what this group did last year after the All-Star break. I think they were a top three defensive team in the league since the All-Star break,” Nori said.
That kind of standard gets tougher to hold when your backcourt features Damian Lillard and Ja Morant. Depending on how Nori lines things up, they could even start together.
Either way, he said the two guards will log major minutes side by side, and this won’t be a situation where he has to spend all night juggling rotations just to cover for them. He credited the defensive structure general manager Joe Cronin has put around them for that.
The biggest piece of that structure may be Robert Williams III, who came back on a three-year, $44 million extension.
“And then I thought it was huge - it was a great job by Joe [Cronin] and ownership to bring back Robert Williams III,” Nori said. “So now you can protect the paint at that five position with Donovan and Robert if you choose to for 48 minutes, which is huge.”
That kind of insurance matters in a roster built to keep the defense afloat even with the new look in the backcourt. Portland also added Micah Potter, Jeremy Sochan, and Branden Carlson in the frontcourt, giving the Blazers enough depth that they shouldn’t need to run Donovan and Williams into the ground every night.
Still, Williams is the piece that changes the ceiling. His biggest impact should come in the playoffs, just like it did in the first-round series against the San Antonio Spurs, where he outplayed Clingan over five games and made it tough for Portland to let him walk. Instead, the front office locked him in.
With Lillard back, Morant in the mix, and the defensive compromises that come with that kind of backcourt, Williams looms even larger now. He was already one of the strongest backup centers in the league. In Portland this season, he may be even more important than that.
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The biggest questions are concentrated in the backcourt, where the team has more proven guard talent than obvious answers. Ja Morants arrival gives Portland another high-end option to fit alongside a veteran core, but it also raises the stakes for how the rotation will be shaped and who settles into the most important minutes as camp unfolds. [Read more 🡒]