The 2025-26 NBA season is there! In the coming weeks, we are examining the biggest questions, the best and the worst scenarios, and winning projections for the 30 franchises – still reconstruction teams to the real contenders in the title.
2024-25 Finish
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Save: 36-46 (tied in the 11th row in the West, missed qualifiers)
Moves off -season
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Add: Jrue Holiday, Damian Lillard, Yang Hansen
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Subtractions: Deandre Ayton, Anfernee Simons
(Sports Illustration Taylor Wilhelm / Yahoo)
Is the big question: is Scoot Henderson a star?
The Blazers have talent. Maybe not a cargo. But they have talent.
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They exchanged the 20-point marker, 26 points, Anfernee Simons against the veteran Jrue Holiday, an All-Star twice and perhaps the best defensive goalkeeper of his generation, which they will associate with Scoot Henderson, the overall choice n ° 3 of the 2023 draft, in the rear area. Donovan Clingan looks like a legitimate center prospect. Jerami Grant is another wing veteran, where Deni Avdija is good and Toumani Camara is an all-defensive artist. They bring Shaedon Sharpe to the bench. It is a team built for a superstar.
Can the question, then: can Henderson be this guy? He suffered a tear During an off -season training session, which will prevent him from speaking for four to eight weeks, so all the answers will have to wait. There was a brief moment in time – before we all think better – that we mentioned Henderson in the same breath as Victor Wembanyama among the best hopes of their draft class. We thought the teenager with a body of the NBA. He is now 21, entering his third season, always with a lot of time to find his foot in the League, but the time to advance as a star is this season.
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The Blazers need to know if Henderson is this type, because if it is not, all of this has been nothing. Finding superstars is the name of the game in the NBA, like that or not, and Portland took its bite at apple In 2023, continuing to put pieces around him which could ensure that he turns into a superstar. They built with its success at the top of the mind. So, if he is not this guy, they must go back in search of him.
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Henderson becomes eligible for an extension of his recruit contract at the end of this season. It is at this moment that the funny part of the reconstruction ends and that the financial aspect stands its ugly head. Someone will believe Henderson enough to pay it, whether in Portland, where they could be a rising star, or elsewhere, where they can be a current project. Decisions must be made. And this season is an audition.
Everything is set up for him. The Blazers desperately need an alpha which can carry score and play every night, and that is precisely what Henderson was sold to us. He has a vacation by his side. Damian Lillard, the prodigal son who returned to Portland, where he will spend this season in rehabilitation, will be in the ear, as is the head coach of Blazers Chauncey Billups, the renowned temple leader. This is royalty in the rear area, which should all have the success of Henderson among their best interests.
Henderson’s performance to date has left a lot to be desired. It is always incoherent to say it with kindness. He collected on average 13.3 points per game during his first two seasons on shooting slots of 40/34/79 below average, engaging 2.7 reversals in his 5.1 assists. Maybe he will offer a defense flight. Henderson’s latest injury is certainly an obstacle in his way of finding the level of coherence he needs.
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(Get more news from Trail Blazers: FEED from the Portland team))
This is not what you want from your recent global choice n ° 3 – a price in its draft – but there are enough signs of celebrity to let us beten. There were his 39 points in a departure in mid-January against the Brooklyn Nets. He posted a 21-5-11 on the bench against the praised defense of Houston’s Rockets two games later. He lost 30 points from the bench in an overtime defeat against New York Knicks in March.
The Blazers still believe in him. We should always believe in him. Whether or not we should believe in him as a shot of 35 to 1 to win the price of the most improved players in the League this season is another question. How it will happen that will determine how competitive the Blazers are in the Western Conference.
Best case
Henderson is the star that the Blazers need him. Avdija, Clingan and Sharpe develop alongside him. Yang Hansen indeed shows, indeed, of his promise as “Chinese Jokic. “Holidays are a stabilizing force. Perhaps he and have to look for something on the commercial market. Anyway, Portland has his young nucleus and enjoys his climb, which can include the pursuit of a playing tournament.
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If everything collapses
Henderson is not a prospect that Portland prefers to build around. (Oh, guy, what killer it would be.) And there is the very real possibility that his twinning with Sharpe is the one that can never give high -end results. What do the Blazers do? That they should understand. Tank back down, where they can mark another superstar perspective, or continue to build from the lower average quadrant of the NBA. Neither is very fun.
Hours 2025-26
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Seasoning: October 22 against Minnesota
The West is legitimate. Once you have started to list the teams, it is difficult to imagine that the Blazers remain in the hunt for the playoffs, and apart from these 35 victories will be difficult to pass, even if they won 36 last season. Pass under.
More preview of the season
East: Atlanta Hawks • Boston Celtics • Brooklyn Nets • Charlotte Hornets • Chicago Bulls • Cleveland Cavaliers • Detroit Pistons • Indiana Pacers • Miami Heat • Milwaukee Bucks • New York Knicks • Orlando Magic • Philadelphia 76ers • Toronto Raptors • Washington Wizards
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West: Dallas Mavericks • Denver Nuggets • Golden State Warriors • Houston Rockets • Los Angeles Clippers • Los Angeles Lakers • Memphis Grizzlies • Minnesota Timberwolves • New Orleans Pélicans • Oklahoma City Thunder • Phoenix Suns • Portland Trail Blazers • Sacramento Kings • San Antonio Spurs • Utah jazz
