The Portland Trail Blazers are heading toward the 2026-27 season with a roster that looks overloaded in two spots and thin in the one area they can’t really fake.
They have plenty of help at point guard and center, but the wing and power forward spots are where things get messy. Damian Lillard, Ja Morant, Scoot Henderson and Jrue Holiday give Portland a surplus of ball-handlers.
At center, the group is just as crowded with Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams III, Yang Hansen and Branden Carlson. Micah Potter could also be counted there, though he has the flexibility to slide to power forward too.
That leaves the rest of the roster trying to cover the other three positions, and that’s where the imbalance shows up. Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Sidy Cissoko, Vit Krejci, Shaedon Sharpe and Jeremy Sochan round out the group, but none of them is a true power forward. That could create problems when Portland runs into teams built around bigger, stronger frontcourt players.
Avdija is the most likely candidate to handle that role in the starting lineup. At 6'8" and with wing-like tendencies, he can fill the spot on paper, but the defensive matchups could be rough against some of the league’s better power forwards.
Sochan has experience at power forward, but his situation is unsettled. He is on a non-guaranteed contract and isn’t expected to be around for long. If he stands out in training camp, he could win a roster spot and fill a major need, but he would need to exceed expectations to survive into the regular season.
Portland could also lean more heavily on Potter as a power forward, though that comes with its own issues. His defense is not considered strong enough compared with other options, and that was a major reason the Indiana Pacers released him earlier in the offseason, believing Larry Nance Jr. was the better fit in that area. Potter is also on a non-guaranteed contract, with the full guarantee not arriving until January, so he is not expected to be part of the team’s long-term future.
The bigger issue is simple: the Blazers need a real power forward, someone who can hold up physically against the league’s bigger players. Right now, Portland’s roster leans so heavily toward guards that plenty of lineups could feature two, or even three, small guards at once. That kind of setup could leave them at a serious size disadvantage against teams that play bigger.
A player like Jarred Vanderbilt of the Los Angeles Lakers fits that mold and could be a logical trade target for Portland.
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Blazers Face One Huge Offensive Question With Dame And Ja
The Trail Blazers are staring at a fascinating offensive puzzle as they prepare for a 2026-27 rotation that could feature Damian Lillard, Ja Morant and Deni Avdija all at once. Any team would welcome that kind of talent, but Portlands challenge is making sure the ball is shared in a way that keeps all three productive, especially with new head coach Micah Nori stepping in to shape the system. Add in the clubs need to get better from long range, and this is about more than just stacking scorers on the same roster.
Lillards return from injury only adds another layer to the conversation, because the Blazers are not simply waiting on health, they are trying to figure out what their offense should look like when he is back in the mix. Morant brings his own high-usage style, Avdija has shown he can handle meaningful creation duties, and Portland has to find a balance that lets each of them do damage without crowding the same spaces on the floor. The answer to that question may end up shaping how far this group can go. [Read more 🡒]
Blazers Face One Big Test If They Want More Than The Play In
Portlands offseason has already changed the look and feel of the franchise, with a new coach in Micah Nori and a fresh star addition in Ja Morant giving the Trail Blazers a very different starting point heading into the 2026-27 season. After making the postseason in their last run, the pressure now is less about simply getting back there and more about proving the roster can do more than hang around the play-in conversation in a crowded Western Conference.
Micah Nori will be taking on his first NBA head coaching job with a team trying to find the right balance between urgency and patience, and that alone makes Portland one of the more interesting watchlist teams in the league. The bigger question is whether the new pieces can mesh quickly enough to lift the Blazers beyond the middle tier, or whether the same conference realities will keep them fighting for a lower seed again. [Read more 🡒]