Northwest division watch: Blazers reloaded with Morant, Lillard

Anybody else in Dub Nation get tired of Portland smacking the Golden State Warriors around last year? The Warriors spent most of last season fighting for their lives in the Western Conference standings, and somehow a Trail Blazers team that wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near the top of their list of problems kept showing up and punching them in the mouth.

Welcome to the next stop on our tour through the Northwest Division. Unfortunately for Warriors fans, this is a team in the group that showed a ton of confidence in their matchups with the Dubs last season. Portland dropped 139 on Golden State on opening week, and beat Golden State two more times before the Warriors finally got one back at Chase Center in January. Portland had the Warriors’ number and that was true even in a season where Portland was still figuring itself out.

And then the Blazers went and made the playoffs for the first time since 2022. They clawed into the No. 7 seed by beating the Suns in the play-in, and then this summer they went out and made the biggest move of anybody in this division. Portland traded Jerami Grant, Kris Murray, and cash to Memphis for Ja Morant who still has two years left on his deal.

His trade value has taken real hits from the injuries the last couple years, but this is still a former All-Star walking into a backcourt that already had a healing Damian Lillard back in the fold, Scoot Henderson on the rise, and Jrue Holiday’s tenacious leadership. That’s a lot of guards! But good players are always valuable regardless of position and ESPN applauds the talent:

Portland has seven players who project to be at least slightly positive, which is the fourth most in the league. None of those players projects to be significantly positive, though, and the top two are Lillard and Morant, who both missed a lot of time in recent seasons. The Blazers are built to withstand some injuries and be solid to good but are not built for going deep into the playoffs, at least not without luck restoring Lillard and Morant to their past heights, which were formidable. 

They also took care of their own, re-signing Robert Williams III to a three-year, $44 million deal, giving Portland real insurance behind the behemoth Donovan Clingan. The only part of the offseason for Portland that was saddening if you’re a fan was Shaedon Sharpe tearing his meniscus, which is going to keep him out until March at the earliest. Losing a 20-plus-point scorer for basically half the season is no joke, which matters with what the backcourt looks like on paper:

Not many players who averaged over 20 points per game last season are coming off the bench in 2026-27, but Sharpe is an exception. The team is integrating Lillard back into the fold after recovering from his torn Achilles and trading for Morant from the Memphis Grizzlies for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. Sharpe is a better player when he starts, averaging 21.9 points per game last season compared to 15.4 when he came off the bench. He also had that with more minutes in the starting lineup compared to a reserve. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, Sharpe is someone the Blazers will have to rely on this season.

So how good is this team supposed to be? I think you can pencil these cats in for about 45 wins. The Dubs will see them plenty this season. Hopefully the Warriors atone for last year by getting busy and wiping out the Blazers, no matter how any guards they throw at GSW.

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