According to Trail Blazers beat reporter Casey Holdahl, Portland's opening night starters will be Jrue Holiday, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, and Donovan Clingan. Chauncey Billups has finally made the switch that the vast majority of Blazers fans have been waiting for, bringing veteran Jerami Grant off the bench.
For fans, it wasn't just about not wanting Grant to start; it also had to do with the opportunity cost of Sharpe likely coming off the bench in order for that to happen. Following Scoot Henderson's hamstring tear, Billups was left with six viable options to start the 2025-26 season. Many assumed that the final starting spot would be between Grant and Sharpe.
Chauncey Billups finally benches Jerami Grant
Last season, Billups decided to bring Sharpe off the bench due to his lackluster defense. But Grant didn't do himself any favors to keep that starting spot, averaging 14.4 points while shooting an inefficient 37.3% from the field. Meanwhile, Sharpe has trended in the opposite direction, with reports of him being the one standout performer throughout Portland's training camp.
Partly due to their confidence in Sharpe's continued development at 22 years old, the Blazers recently extended him to a four-year, $90 million deal. It seems as though Billups and general manager Joe Cronin were on the same page regarding what to do with Sharpe. If Billups deemed him worthy of a starting spot, it makes sense for Portland to lock him down before his value rises, as his numbers will likely improve with this increased role. In other words, they didn't want the market to dictate his value in restricted free agency after what's becoming increasingly likely to be a breakout season.
This offseason, Cronin has emphasized the young and rebuilding Blazers taking a long-term approach despite the win now move for Jrue Holiday. They've done a great job of backing up these words with their actions, whether it's the extensions of Sharpe and Toumani Camara or promoting Sharpe to a starting role.
It was highly uncertain what Billups would ultimately decide to do. He rotated different starting lineups throughout the preseason, but that experiment was cut short following the injury to Camara. To make things even murkier, Grant capped off the preseason with a 32-point performance, shooting 5-of-12 from beyond the arc.
With the Blazers' postseason chances looking slim in a loaded Western Conference, the priority this season should be their young core taking significant strides. Blazers fans have to feel relieved that Billups, fresh off an extension of his own, also seems to realize this.
This should be the starting lineup until Scoot returns from injury, which will give Billups a large enough sample size to figure out what, if any, adjustments are needed.