Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin identified shooting as the area for Portland to address this offseason. They haven't addressed those concerns to the extent they probably should have, surprisingly bringing in another non-shooter in Ja Morant.
That said, the Blazers do finally have a workable solution to their shooting woes that new head coach Micah Nori can implement next season, and it starts with the return of franchise icon Damian Lillard.
Damian Lillard's return quietly makes Portland a decent shooting team
Having Lillard's floor spacing in the backcourt will immediately give Portland a shooting boost, hopefully getting them out of the bottom five in three-point efficiency they've ranked throughout this rebuild. With Dame in the starting unit, the Blazers can have a potential starting five of all capable floor spacers: Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, and Donovan Clingan.
That group should hopefully be even better shooters next season. Camara was solid statistically at 37 percent but needs to improve his consistency, Clingan is looking to build on a huge second-year leap, while Avdija's shooting dipped following a lingering back injury.
Of course, this lineup combination would require Nori to make the difficult decision to bring Morant off the bench, but that's also a decision that Nori recently said he wouldn't be afraid to make if necessary.
Blazers should bring Ja Morant off the bench
"Well, I don't know," Nori said on SiriusXM NBA Radio. "I take people at their word. You can say it, and if it has to come to that, I'll say, 'hey, you said you didn't care.'"
Another thing he mentions is the desire to win in players like Morant, Lillard, and Holiday, allowing them to put their egos aside for the betterment of the team as long as they still get their minutes.
If this ultimately is the starting five for Portland, shooting would remain a concern off the bench. Micah Potter was an underrated signing to help in that department, though Morant and Shaedon Sharpe have some overlap in their strengths and weaknesses. Nori will have to figure out the most effective way to stagger minutes to keep shooting on the court at all times -- something that Tiago Splitter never really had the luxury of doing.
Too many times last season Portland's offense stalled because Avdija would get downhill only to kick it out to non-shooters like Kris Murray and Sidy Cissoko, who even shared the floor for stretches far longer than they should've.
Micah Nori already has a plan to address Portland's shooting woes
But it's not just the roster that will help Portland with its shooting woes; it's also Nori's offensive game plan.
At his introductory press conference, Nori first mentioned how much Lillard's return will help their lack of shooting. But later, he added more of an Xs-and-Os perspective on how the Blazers' shooting will benefit from movement, spacing, and putting players in their hot spots.
"We struggled to make shots at the three. Now obviously Dame will help that… when you dig deeper, the three-point shooting, a lot of these guys, they can make threes, but in certain ways. So maybe some of them are better catch-and-shoot, some are better coming off of ball screens. Maybe some are better going stepback left as opposed to right."
Between a healthier roster, internal improvement, offseason additions, and Nori's plan of attack, the Blazers should be a better shooting team next season. Blazers fans will be pleasantly surprised to find out that this team has quietly achieved a better roster balance than many expect heading into 2026-27.
Add us as a preferred source on Google