PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – After an eventful summer, the Portland Trail Blazers officially kicked-off the 2026-27 season on Monday by hosting their annual Media Day.
Following an offseason dominated by talks about the team’s future in Portland, the Blazers now prepare for one of the more anticipated seasons in recent history.
Buoyed by the on-court return of Damian Lillard – and the acquisition of two-time NBA All-Star Ja Morant – expectations are high for the team under new coach Micah Nori.
Last season, interim coach Tiago Splitter led Portland to the playoffs for the first time since 2021, as the team finished with a 42-40 record before falling to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round.
Splitter, who took over for Chauncey Billups after the season opener following the latter’s arrest in a federal gambling investigation, departed over the offseason to take the Chicago Bulls coaching vacancy.
For Nori, the season marks his first as a NBA head coach, after nearly two decades of experience as an assistant, most recently for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The 52-year-old emphasized the importance of bringing a sense of pride back to Rip City.
“Coming in here, those nights that you dread coming into Portland …when they’re good, when this place is full, and they get behind their basketball team,” Nori recalled from his many years on the opponent’s bench. “The biggest thing for me is just the people, and making sure we put together a program and product that every single night they can be proud of, they can cheer for.”
Morant spoke about the opportunity for a fresh start, after a tumultuous tenure in Memphis that included multiple suspensions.
“Everything that happened over the years pretty much just stuck with me, everybody keeps bringing them up as long as Memphis was across my chest,” said the 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year, who was limited to just 20 games last season due to injury.
“Now I get to start over,” said Morant, who joins a crowded Portland backcourt that includes fourth-year point guard Scoot Henderson.
“Everybody goes in and gives it their all and, come out, that’s the way I look at it” said Henderson of the team’s depth at guard. “You come out and it’s kinda just like a one-two, next thing you know I’m in there, next thing you know Ja in there, Dame, Jrue (Holliday), it’s gonna be difficult for teams to try to match that energy.”
Henderson’s 2025-26 season delayed due to a offseason hamstring tear, limiting him to a career-low 30 games after debuting in February.
Fifth-year guard Shaedon Sharpe faces a similar hurdle entering this season, suffering a lateral meniscus tear in his knee during a workout last month.
Meanwhile, Lillard, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer is ready to suit back up for the Blazers for the first time since 2023.
After re-signing with the team last July, the guard missed all of last season while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in the 2025 NBA Playoffs while with the Milwaukee Bucks.
“I know what I’ve lived for the last 16 months or so, just fighting to get back to this point” Lillard said. “So it’s a win for me to start with, just because I have a lot of joy in being out there, comfortable playing, feeling strong again.”
The Blazers open training camp on Tuesday, and begin a four-game preseason slate against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at Moda Center. They open the regular season at home against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 21.
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