The Portland Trail Blazers rank as one of the most intrigued teams entering the 2026-27 season. After a surprisingly strong 2025-26 season, they reloaded in the summer, adding star Ja Morant and now having a healthy Damian Lillard.
Having both players in addition to Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson may lead to a long jam at guard, but it's a good problem to have. What's important is that they finally have the tools in place to make themselves a legit playoff team.
Sure, they surprised the NBA world by making the playoffs as the seven seed last season, but they didn't stand much of a chance against the San Antonio Spurs. Credit to them, because they didn't take this summer lying down.
They had a plan and executed it. Whether it will work out next season is a big question mark, but they at least swung for the fences with Morant being a buy-low star who could potentially find new life in Portand.
The Portland Trail Blazers are a dark horse playoffs team
Yes, he has been on a downward trend for the last four seasons, and he isn't anywhere near the All-NBA player he was back in the 2021-22 season.
That is all well and good, but the Blazers didn't give up much for him, and if he returns to that level, then he could be a steal for Portland. The same could be said for Lillard.
If he plays at 80% of the level he did with the Milwaukee Bucks, then he would be a steal for what they are paying him. The Blazers are likely to start Morant and Lillard together with Holiday, Deni Avdija, and Donovan Clingan.
Time will tell if that offensive-oriented lineup will work, but it's clear that the Blazers have more talent now than they did before.
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