The Portland Trail Blazers plan to start Ja Morant in the backcourt alongside Damian Lillard. They have also signaled to teams that they intend to keep Jrue Holiday heading into the 2026-27 season, believing they can make the guard logjam work because of his positional versatility. It's a strange roster that will immediately put new head coach Micah Nori to the test.
The first order of business: who starts?
Assuming Morant and Lillard are penciled in at the one and two positions, Portland essentially has four of five spots already figured out. Their two building blocks, Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan, will start at the four and five, barring another trade.
That leaves Jrue Holiday or Toumani Camara competing for the starting small forward position.
Given how well Holiday played last season, he has a compelling case to earn that final spot. If that is the case, here's what the Blazers' depth chart could potentially look like following the Morant trade and Branden Carlson signing:
Updated Portland Trail Blazers depth chart
PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ja Morant | Damian Lillard | Jrue Holiday | Deni Avdija | Donovan Clingan |
Scoot Henderson | Shaedon Sharpe | Toumani Camara | Toumani Camara | Robert Williams III |
Damian Lillard | Jrue Holiday | Vit Krejci | Sidy Cissoko | Branden Carlson |
Jrue Holiday | Vit Krejci | Yang Hansen |
Portland still has two spots to fill on its 15-man roster and desperately needs to address its lack of forward depth. They are largely a team consisting of point guards and centers, which isn't an ideal formula considering two-way wings are arguably the most valuable player archetype in the league.
The one thing they do have working in their favor is positional versatility between Holiday, Avdija, and Camara. That should give Nori much-needed flexibility to help make this unique roster construction work.
Micah Nori will have to get creative with Portland's rotations
Portland may have gotten good value in their blockbuster trade for Morant, but the poor roster fit means Nori will have his work cut out for him. They should be much better in the turnover department with so many ballhandlers and playmakers at their disposal. Still, shooting and floor spacing not only remain issues, but have also somehow gotten worse.
Training camp will be crucial for Nori to better understand how these imperfect puzzle pieces fit together. For instance, it will give him a chance to evaluate whether Lillard has returned to form following the Achilles tear.
One benefit of the Morant deal is it takes the playmaking burden off Lillard, allowing him to play more off-ball as a spot-up shooter. If Lillard can step into that secondary playmaker role in the backcourt, it could make sense to have Camara in the starting unit instead. Alternatively, if they need more offensive generation and shot creation, Holiday becomes the better bet.
It could even come down to what the Blazers' matchup is on any given night. If they have to go against a superstar, suddenly having Camara to shadow him defensively becomes the more appealing option.
The Blazers roster is messy, but hidden within that mess is optionality. It's a steep challenge for Nori's first head coaching stint, but it also gives him plenty of avenues to be creative with these rotations.
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