The Portland Trail Blazers are already setting the bar high for the 2026-27 season, and the opening of practice on Tuesday made that clear.
According to Toumani Camara, as shared by Conor Bergin of Blazer’s Edge on X, the team’s first workout came with two stated goals: “50-plus wins” and “Home-court advantage in the playoffs.”
That is a big swing for a team that finished 42-40 last season and grabbed the seventh seed under interim coach Tiago Splitter. This year, Portland is aiming to climb out of the play-in picture entirely by adding at least eight more wins and landing in the top four.
On paper, the roster looks better. The Blazers bring back Damian Lillard and added Ja Morant, Micah Potter, Branden Carlson, and Jeremy Sochan this offseason. That gives Portland more star power than it had a year ago, and enough talent to at least enter the conversation with the Western Conference’s next tier of teams.
But that conversation gets crowded fast.
The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs still look like the league’s top two teams, even with the New York Knicks defending the throne. Behind them sit Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, a Minnesota Timberwolves group that now pairs LaMelo Ball with Anthony Edwards, and a Los Angeles Lakers team that finally makes sense on paper after surrounding Luka Doncic with complementary pieces.
That leaves Portland trying to force its way into a packed group, and the fit is not as clean as the names suggest.
Ball gives Minnesota the point guard it needed. Doncic gets the big man he likes to work with in Walker Kessler.
Denver remains dangerous because of Jokic and its ability to hang around no matter what. Portland’s big swing is different: it’s banking on Morant, a former All-Star whose career has been slowed by injuries.
The name carries real weight, but the version of Morant Portland is getting is not the same one that once made him an All-Star. That matters, especially for a team that already finished near the bottom of the league in three-point efficiency. Lillard’s return should help ease some of the spacing concerns, but the overall fit still feels complicated.
That is why the 50-win target feels more like a risk than a promise. Portland did get better this summer, but the Western Conference got stronger around it, and that makes the climb steeper than the Blazers’ opening practice goals might suggest.
For Micah Nori, the challenge is obvious. If he can maximize this roster, Portland may have enough to belong in that second tier.
If not, the expectations could become a problem quickly. He has only one guaranteed year left on his contract, and asking a first-year head coach to deliver a top-four seed in the West with a roster that still has fit questions is a tough ask.
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Branden Carlson Is Already Forcing His Way Into The Blazers Conversation
The Trail Blazers opened their first practice of the season with a few names already standing out, and Branden Carlson was among the most noticeable. The center brought strong offensive rebounding and plenty of energy to the floor, the kind of early workload that can help a player get noticed fast in camp, especially when the team is still sorting through what its rotation in the middle might look like.
Carlsons push comes at an interesting time for Portland, which is taking a hard look at its frontcourt depth while also tracking other camp themes like Toumani Camaras perimeter defense and Scoot Hendersons pace. The Blazers have options in the middle, and that makes every practice rep matter as they try to narrow down who fits where and how much room there really is for another big to break into the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
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This is shaping up to be an important camp for Henderson, who is expected to have a significant role in setting the tone early while also likely seeing fewer minutes once the season starts. With restricted free agency looming in 2027, his place in Portlands plans carries a little extra weight now, and the Blazers will be watching closely to see how he handles the next step. [Read more 🡒]
Blazers Suddenly Have A Ja Morant Question They Cant Ignore
At Portland Trail Blazers media day, the backcourt picture was already looking crowded before the season even tips off. Micah Nori addressed a guard rotation that features Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday, and said the staff can get creative with how it fits the pieces together, including using Holiday more at forward to help manage minutes and keep the lineup flexible.
Morant added another layer to the conversation by making it clear his priority is winning, regardless of whether he starts or not. Nori acknowledged the possibility of Morant coming off the bench, which is the kind of rotation wrinkle that can shape a season long before the games start to matter. The Blazers may spend plenty of the early months experimenting with roles, and this one feels destined to be one of the bigger decisions they keep revisiting. [Read more 🡒]