Damian Lillard is recovered from his Achilles injury and Ja Morant was acquired in a trade, giving the Portland Trail Blazers a guard-heavy squad as they open the season against the visiting Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
Both Lillard and Morant will be in new coach Micah Nori’s starting lineup against the Suns. Veteran Jrue Holiday and youngster Scoot Henderson will come off the bench and provide Portland with plenty of in-game options to team up with All-Star forward Deni Avdija.
“Regardless of how we start, I’m more concerned of the combinations throughout it,” said Nori, who spent the past five seasons as an assistant for the Minnesota Timberwolves. “The positive for us is we have a lot of different ways to go to end things.”
“(The lineup) gives you a facilitator in Ja that’s looking to push pace and use him as a secondary scorer. Obviously, you have the scoring ability of Dame and it allows Deni to get as many touches that he needs to be efficient.”
Lillard, 36, missed all of last season after injuring his Achilles during the 2025 postseason with the Milwaukee Bucks. He was the face of the Trail Blazers for 11 seasons (2012-23) before leaving for the Bucks.
Lillard is a nine-time All-Star and ranks fifth in NBA history with 2,804 career 3-pointers.
Morant, 27, is a two-time All-Star but has played in just 79 games over the past three seasons due to injuries and suspensions. He played seven seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies before being dealt to Portland for a package that included forwards Jerami Grant and Kris Murray.
“If I get the ball and I’m advancing the ball ahead to Ja Morant, I feel pretty good about it,” Lillard told reporters earlier this month. “And if I’m advancing the ball to Deni Avdija, I feel good about it. And for both of those guys, if they are attacking the rim, attacking the paint, and they’re kicking the ball out to me for the 3-pointer, I think they should feel great about that.”
Starting alongside Morant, Lillard and Avdija are forward Toumani Camara and center Donovan Clingan. Holiday sat out the team’s preseason finale against the Golden State Warriors on Friday with swelling in his right hand, but Nori said Sunday that an X-ray showed “nothing was broke.”
Portland went 42-40 last season and lost to the San Antonio Spurs in five games in the first round of the playoffs.
The Suns went 45-37 and were swept in four games by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.
Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks will again be Phoenix’s top cogs.
Booker, who turns 30 on Oct. 30, is a five-time All-Star entering his 12th season with the organization. He is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 18,120 career points and averaged 26.1 points last season.
“You’re talking about a guy who’s already had a Hall of Fame career,” Suns second-year coach Jordan Ott said of Booker. “I just think as his career progresses, new things are found. The game changes and you continue to evolve as a player. And there’s no one more hungry and thoughtful about how he fits in our team and what he can do best to help us win.”
Brooks, 30, had a bigger scoring role in his first season with the Suns and it paid off. He averaged a career-best 20.2 points.
Miles Bridges will join Brooks as the other starting forward while Jalen Green will start with Booker in the backcourt. Ott reiterated Monday that Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach will share the center position but a starter hasn’t been tabbed.
The bench includes guards Collin Gillespie and Luke Kennard and forward Ryan Dunn.
“We have a lot of good players competing for spots,” Ott said. “We have a deep team. We really like our depth because that gets tested throughout the season.”
Kennard (left knee) is questionable for the opener.
