Robert Williams III has become the kind of player the Portland Trail Blazers can’t afford to lose - and Thursday’s 124-103 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies made that plain.
The final score looks lopsided, but the game itself was hanging around much tighter than the margin suggests. In a matchup like that, Williams’ presence might have been enough to swing things Portland’s way. Instead, he sat out because of left knee injury management, and the Blazers were left trying to patch a hole they still haven’t really fixed.
That has been the central issue with Williams all along. Last season, he was one of the league’s most valuable backup bigs when he was actually on the floor, appearing in 59 games - the second most of his career. Portland rewarded that stretch with a three-year, $44 million extension this offseason, a deal that included injury protections.
The problem is the same one that has followed him everywhere: what happens when he isn’t available?
For Portland, that question is no longer theoretical. Williams is listed as day-to-day, but history points toward the Blazers spending plenty of nights without him. There could easily be 20-plus games this season where he’s out, and Thursday offered a preview of how shaky things can get when that happens.
Joe Cronin tried to insulate the roster by piling up more size, adding Branden Carlson and Micah Potter. But that move hasn’t exactly solved the issue. If anything, the Grizzlies game showed Portland is still dealing with the same problem it had a year ago, when interim coach Tiago Splitter had to lean on Yang Hansen more than he probably wanted.
Last season, the Blazers could at least say they weathered Williams’ absences without their record falling apart. They went 12-11 without him and 30-29 with him, basically living around .500 either way. This year feels different, though, because Portland needs him more.
Part of that comes from the way the roster is built. Before Thursday’s loss, the smaller guard-heavy mix of Scoot Henderson, Ja Morant, Damian Lillard, and Jrue Holiday had been working better than expected. That has a lot to do with the talent and versatility in that group, but it also depends on having the right bigs behind them to make it functional.
Against Memphis, that cover started to crack. Donovan Clingan was being pushed around by the Grizzlies’ approach in drop coverage, especially with bigs such as Cameron Boozer able to pull defenders away from the rim. Once Clingan went to the bench, Portland’s protection at the basket thinned out fast.
That left Carlson in ugly spots. At 220 pounds, he was asked to deal with bodies like the 305-pound Zach Edey and Isaiah Stewart, whose nickname is literally Beef Stew. Stewart made the Blazers pay, scoring 18 efficient points in just 16 minutes.
In the second half, head coach Micah Nori turned to Potter as the first center off the bench instead of Carlson. That gave Memphis a little more offense from the position, but it did even less to solve the rim-protection issue.
Portland will try to recover from its first loss of the season on Saturday at Utah against another rising Western Conference team. The Blazers would love to have Williams back for that one, because he has become such a key part of what they’re trying to do. But Thursday also showed the other side of that reality: when you’re counting on an injury-prone player this heavily, the downside is always lurking.
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Henderson finished with 14 points and three steals, while Deni Avdija again looked like one of Portlands most reliable pieces by leading all players with 24 points and a plus-minus of plus-32. Jakub Krejci also showed some improvement after a slow start to the season, giving the Blazers a little more to think about as the rotation takes shape and the early schedule keeps testing how deep this group can go. [Read more 🡒]
Ja Morant Injury Puts Blazers Early Momentum On Edge
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For now, Scoot Henderson has moved into the starting lineup in Morants place, while the ripple effect has reached other parts of the roster as well. Deni Avdija and Vit Krejci have both seen their roles shift with Morant sidelined, and Portland will have to navigate the next stretch without the guard it had just started to build around until he is reevaluated four weeks from now. [Read more 🡒]
Blazers Suddenly Look Like A Much More Dangerous West Team
After the Damian Lillard trade sent Portland into a reset, the Trail Blazers rebuilt around a blend of young players and veterans and found their way back to the playoffs last season. Now the early returns suggest this group is no longer just trying to get back on track. With Lillard rejoining the team in 2025 while recovering from an injury and Ja Morant in the mix, Portland has looked far more balanced under head coach Micah Nori, especially on the offensive end.
The encouraging part for the Blazers is that the progress does not seem to be coming at the expense of what already made them tough to play against. Their offense has shown real improvement from the issues that held them back before, while the defense has stayed strong enough to keep them in the conversation in a crowded Western Conference. For a team that spent the last year proving it could survive a major roster shakeup, the next question is whether this version can turn early momentum into something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]