Damian Lillard is still months removed from his last NBA game, but the early signs out of Portland are encouraging. According to Jason Quick of The Athletic, both Toumani Camara and head coach Micah Nori say the veteran guard is moving well as he works his way back from the Achilles tear he suffered on April 27, 2025.
Nori came away impressed after watching Lillard in daily runs at the Blazers’ practice facility in recent weeks.
“If I never knew Dame Lillard, and I came into the building and just started watching them play basketball, I would not be able to tell he had any type of surgery,” Nori said.
Camara, who has been put on Lillard in pre-camp scrimmages, gave a similarly strong report. The defensive-minded forward told The Athletic that Lillard has looked “very, very impressive” and said the 36-year-old would rank among the five toughest players in the league for him to guard.
“I think the most impressive thing for me was his first step, his speed, especially coming back from that injury,” Camara said. “He was just very hard to guard all around.
He has so many ways to get around you. He has mastered his game and mastered his body, and no matter how good of a defender you are, when somebody has mastered their game, they are going to get wherever they want.
You just have to hope they miss the shot.”
There’s also a bigger roster question hanging over Portland’s backcourt once Lillard is fully back and Ja Morant joins the mix. In a mailbag for The Rose Garden Report, Sean Highkin suggested it may make the most sense for one of the two star point guards to come off the bench, which would let Jrue Holiday stay in the starting backcourt as the better defender.
Around the Northwest, the Thunder are already staring down a potential payday for Cason Wallace. Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman used recent extensions for Ausar Thompson, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Ayo Dosunmu, and Dyson Daniels as comps and pegged Wallace’s next deal in the range of $26-30MM annually on a four- or five-year contract.
In Denver, Julian Strawther is eligible for a rookie scale extension before his fourth season, but the path forward is murky. Chris Dempsey of Demps and Circumstance noted that Strawther’s playing time dropped to 15.1 minutes per game in 2025/26, and with the Nuggets expected to be fully healthy, he could wind up battling for a rotation spot behind DeMar DeRozan, Tyus Jones, Spencer Jones, and Marvin Bagley III.
And in Utah, Shreyas Laddha of The Salt Lake Tribune tackled a range of Jazz topics in his first mailbag, including what a strong rookie year could look like for Darryn Peterson and how the team can balance development with trying to win. Laddha’s view of the ceiling in 2026/27 is a pretty ambitious one for the Jazz: a top-five seed and a competitive first-round playoff series.
In Other News...
Blazers Playoff Hopes Come Down To One Uncomfortable Reality
The Trail Blazers did enough over the regular season and Play-In Tournament to reach the 2025-26 NBA Playoffs as the Wests No. 7 seed, a step forward that should have signaled real staying power. Instead, the conversation around Portland has quickly shifted to whether that breakthrough is built to last, especially with questions lingering about ownership direction, coaching stability and how well the roster actually fits together.
One anonymous NBA scout put the unease in blunt terms, framing Portland as a team he expects to slide back out of the playoff mix. At the center of it all is an awkward balancing act: whether Ja Morant and Damian Lillard can stay healthy and find a way to coexist while Deni Avdija remains the clubs primary offensive engine. If that combination does not settle quickly, the Blazers could discover how thin the margin is between a feel-good spring and a much harsher reality. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Move On From Keon Johnson And Raise An Immediate Question
Keon Johnsons latest stop ended almost as quickly as it began, with Atlanta waiving the former first-round pick shortly after bringing him in on an Exhibit 10 deal. The move leaves Johnson back on the market, and it also puts a few teams on alert as the veteran-free-agency shuffle keeps rolling late in the calendar.
Among the possibilities being floated are Denver, Chicago and Portland, with the Trail Blazers included because of their guard situation and the broader way their roster has been taking shape. Portland also recently moved on from guards Mark Sears and Barry Dunning, which only adds to the sense that there could be room for another look, even if nothing has been decided yet. [Read more 🡒]
Jeremy Sochan Puts Blazers Camp Battle In Sharp Focus
Jeremy Sochan arrives in Portland with the kind of profile that usually gets a closer look in training camp: young enough to develop, experienced enough to matter, and versatile enough to fit a roster that can always use another defender. The 23-year-old forward is entering his fifth NBA season after signing a one-year, non-guaranteed contract, and the Trail Blazers are clearly viewing him as a possible answer behind the main rotation rather than a finished product.
What makes Sochan intriguing is the same thing that makes his path uneasy. Portland likes the defensive flexibility he can bring by guarding multiple positions, but the offensive side of his game remains a limitation, which puts real weight on how he looks in camp and how he fits into the depth picture. For a team sorting through its backup forward options, his presence adds another layer to a competition that could come down to who can do the most without needing the ball. [Read more 🡒]