The big news out of Portland Trail Blazers practice on Tuesday: Jrue Holiday, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan will form Portland’s starting lineup for Wednesday’s regular-season
opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“I feel like we have seven starters on this team, I really do,” head coach Chauncey Billups told reporters in Tualatin. “Those five, Jerami [Grant] and Scoot [Henderson]. For the first year, I had some really, really tough decisions to make, and I like that. They came in and did great. Jerami was incredible in camp, along with the other guys. I just feel like right now this is kinda how we need to go.”
Along with Billups, Tuesday’s media availability session included interviews with players Matisse Thybulle, Deni Avdija and new two-way contract signee Javonte Cooke. Here are four more quick hitters from the interviews.
- With Scoot Henderson injured to start the season, the glaring omission from Portland’s opening night starting lineup is 12-year veteran forward Jerami Grant, who has been a mainstay in the starting five since he came to Portland in summer 2022. Billups discussed how Grant responded to his decision to move him to the bench to start this season:
- “He’s a vet, man. He’s a professional. Of course, nobody wants that. He’s been a starter in this league for a long time, and again, I still consider him to be that, and he had a good camp. He came to play. So, obviously, I’m sure he’s not happy with it, but him and I have a really healthy relationship, and we can keep it honest with one another. Jerami’s just a pro, a pro’s pro. So he’s fine.”
- Billups also discussed what he liked about this select group of five together: “I like that these guys already have some synergy. They’ve played together quite a bit. They’re starting to really, really get to know each other. … They balance each other out. We’ve got some downhill drivers in the group that kinda fuel the offense. We got shooting there. We got a lot of things here.”
- On the injury front, Billups said Robert Williams III (return to competition conditioning) is still ramping up and won’t be available for Wednesday’s opener. He said wing Matisse Thybulle’s availability (right knee soreness) is still up in the air for the game. “He did pretty much everything in practice [today], so there’s a chance.”
- Thybulle wouldn’t say whether he expected to play Wednesday or not, but he did say his health was feeling good: “Now [I’m] just trying to catch up with these guys. We’re playing a really fast pace of basketball this year, so just trying to get used to that. Everyday I get more reps in, it gets easier.”
