Portland has now played five games, winning four and losing one, but the standings still list the Trail Blazers at 2-0. That is the lingering oddity from the last report, when the record sat at 0-0 after three games. The listed mark has moved, but it still trails the results. The Trail Blazers are sixth in the West with a 2-0 last-10 line.
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The two new games were both wins. On October 21, Portland beat the Suns 124-83 at home. Damian Lillard scored 25 points, and Deni Avdija had 18 points and 10 rebounds. On October 23, the Trail Blazers won 128-120 at the Kings. Avdija scored 26 and Lillard 19. That is the second win at Sacramento this month, after the 110-98 result on October 13. The only loss remains the 128-118 defeat at the Warriors on October 16, when Ja Morant scored 19.
The power rankings moved with the wins. Portland was ranked 19th a week earlier. It reached first on October 22, then slid to second on October 23 and fourth on October 24. The standings were less steady. The Trail Blazers were first in the West on October 22, seventh the next day, and seventh again on October 24 before moving up to sixth on October 25.
The injury board turned over again. Jrue Holiday, listed day-to-day with a right hand/arm issue since October 16, was cleared on October 20. That closes the question from the last report. Micah Potter, who was day-to-day with an illness, was cleared on October 21. Avdija appeared on October 20 as day-to-day with a right ankle issue and was cleared the next day. He then scored 18 and 26 in the next two games. Robert Williams III has not had a new entry since he was cleared on October 17.
Two players are still unsettled. Chris Youngblood went from day-to-day to out with a left ankle issue on October 20. On October 22 he moved to day-to-day and back to out. On October 24 he was day-to-day again. Branden Carlson was listed out with a concussion on October 20 and followed the same path on October 22. He was day-to-day again on October 24. Both are currently day-to-day, and neither has a return date.
The roster has not changed since Jeremy Sochan left on October 18. No signing has been recorded to fill his spot. The list stands at 17 names.
The arena storyline got another mention. A hoopsrumors notes column on October 21 covered Lillard, Avdija, Scoot Henderson, the rotation and the arena. The listing gives no detail on what it said about the arena. Mike Vorkunov's October 17 report, in which Dundon called keeping the team in Portland a "priority," is still the only substantive item on the subject.
Net change: three more games are in the book, all wins. Holiday, Potter and Avdija are cleared. Youngblood and Carlson remain day-to-day after a week of back-and-forth. The listed record is still behind the results.
Open storylines
as of Sun, Oct 25Portland has won four of five games, but the standings show 2-0.
Both flipped between out and day-to-day on October 22 and were day-to-day on October 24, with no return date.
Another column on October 21 listed "Arena," but Dundon's October 17 "priority" quote is the only substantive report.
No signing is recorded since Sochan left on October 18.
The power rankings went from 19th to fourth in a week, while the West standing bounced from first to seventh to sixth.
The projection
all 30 teams →The season depends most on Jrue Holiday (33.6 wins without him), Toumani Camara (30.0 wins without him), Robert Williams III (27.2 wins without him), Deni Avdija (26.0 wins without him) and Donovan Clingan (25.6 wins without him): on/off from 2026-27, details under Injuries. Computed Tue, Oct 27; the method is on the methods page.
The race
Western Conference · 80 games leftNext 5: at Lakers100%vs Grizzlies100%at Jazz25%at Nuggets33%at Suns33%opponents win 58% of their games on average
Standings and games back are from the official table; the pace is the current record carried over 82 games, nothing more.
Day by day
32 days on the recordEarlier on the record28 more days · back to Mon, Sep 7
The franchise
Every season since the start →Public record →Nowupdated 2026-10-19
Micah Nori enters his first full season as head coach, hired June 24, 2026, after Chauncey Billups was placed on leave and Tiago Splitter ran the team on an interim basis. The core — Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Shaedon Sharpe, Jrue Holiday, Donovan Clingan, Scoot Henderson and Vít Krejčí — was built through trades and the draft, and it was reshaped again on June 29, 2026, when Portland sent Jerami Grant and Kris Murray to Memphis for Ja Morant. Damian Lillard also returned to the roster in 2025 after being waived by Milwaukee. Last season the Blazers went 42-40, with a net rating of -0.4 that ranked 19th in the league, an offense that ranked 21st and a defense that ranked 11th. Payroll sits at $194.5 million on 16 contracts, over the $165.0 million cap but under the $200.4 million luxury tax, with Morant ($42.2M), Holiday ($34.8M), Sharpe ($20.1M) and Camara ($18.1M) as the biggest numbers. Portland holds its own 2027 and 2028 first-round picks and carries swap rights on several future firsts, while owing a 2029 second-rounder to Memphis. The roster kept turning this fall, with Jeremy Sochan waived and Caleb Houstan's stay lasting barely a day.
Identity and rivalries112 words
This is a team defined by pace — 101.63 last season — and a defense, 11th in the league, that has to carry an offense that ranked just 21st. The current roster runs through a reunited backcourt mix of Morant, Lillard, Holiday, Sharpe and Henderson, with Avdija and Clingan anchoring the frontcourt. The Warriors are already a live measuring stick this fall: Portland beat them 123-118 on October 7, then lost at Golden State 118-128 on October 16, with Lillard scoring 23 and Morant 19 in that loss. Every game against that kind of competition is also a referendum on whether Morant, cleared to play since late September, is fully himself again.
Home, owners and numbers94 words
The Trail Blazers play at the Moda Center in Portland's Rose Quarter, which opened in 1995 as the Rose Garden and seats 19,980 for basketball. Carolina Hurricanes owner Thomas Dundon bought the franchise from the estate of Paul Allen, with the NBA Board of Governors approving the $4.25 billion sale on March 30, 2026. The arena sits next to the old Memorial Coliseum, built in 1960. The fan culture known as "Blazermania" traces back to the 1976-77 season, when Portland won its only NBA title, and to broadcaster Bill Schonely's rallying cry, "Rip City."
What they are chasing120 words
Portland is chasing a return to real playoff relevance after going 42-40 and landing outside the league's upper tier in net rating. The front office is also managing the ledger: $194.5 million in payroll already past the cap, with the tax line at $200.4 million and the first apron at $209.0 million not far away. On October 17, 2026, Dundon called keeping the team in Portland a "priority," the first real substance behind an arena storyline that had been hanging over the franchise since September. Fans are left arguing over two things: how good this team actually is once Morant, Lillard and Holiday are all healthy at once, and whether that arena question is as settled as Dundon's comment suggests.
The long view457 words
The Trail Blazers entered the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team alongside the Cleveland Cavaliers and Buffalo Braves. Founder Harry Glickman raised the $3.7 million franchise fee with investors Robert Schmertz, Larry Weinberg and Herman Sarkowsky, and the name Trail Blazers beat out 10,000 entries, including the more popular 'Pioneers,' which was already taken. The team played its first years at Memorial Coliseum under coach Rolland Todd with Geoff Petrie and Sidney Wicks, missing the playoffs in each of its first six seasons.
Everything changed with the 1974 draft of Bill Walton. The 1976 dispersal draft brought Maurice Lucas and Jack Ramsay was hired as coach; together they delivered the franchise's only championship in 1977, a season that opened the longest sellout streak in American major professional sports, 814 straight games from April 5, 1977 until 1995. Walton was NBA Finals MVP in 1977 and regular-season MVP in 1978, but a foot injury and a contract dispute ended his Portland career after a 50-10 start collapsed to 58-24 and a conference semifinal loss to the Seattle SuperSonics.
The 1983 pick of Clyde Drexler at No. 14 defined the next era. A year later Portland took Sam Bowie at No. 2, passing on Michael Jordan, who went third to Chicago. Terry Porter, drafted last in the first round in 1985, became the franchise's career assists leader. Paul Allen bought the team in 1988 for $70 million, becoming the youngest owner in the Big Four leagues at 35. Under coach Rick Adelman, with Buck Williams and Jerome Kersey, Drexler led Portland to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992, losing to the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls, plus a 63-19 season in between. Drexler was later traded to the Houston Rockets after Bob Whitsitt took over as team president in 1994.
In 1995 the team left Memorial Coliseum for the 20,000-seat Rose Garden, and the sellout streak ended. Whitsitt rebuilt around talented but troubled players, including Isaiah Rider and Rasheed Wallace, and later added Scottie Pippen. Under coach Mike Dunleavy, Portland reached the 1999 Western Conference finals, swept by the San Antonio Spurs, and the 2000 conference finals, where a 15-point fourth-quarter lead over the Los Angeles Lakers slipped away in a Game 7 loss.
Six Hall of Famers have worn a Trail Blazers uniform: Lenny Wilkens, Bill Walton, Clyde Drexler, Dražen Petrović, Arvydas Sabonis and Scottie Pippen, and three Hall of Fame coaches, Wilkens, Jack Ramsay and Rick Adelman, ran the bench. Geoff Petrie, Sidney Wicks, Brandon Roy and Damian Lillard won Rookie of the Year; Kevin Duckworth, Zach Randolph and CJ McCollum won Most Improved Player. Since the SuperSonics left for Oklahoma City in 2008, Portland remains the only NBA team in the Pacific Northwest.