When the Portland Trail Blazers opened training camp ahead of a season of great optimism and hope, their coach wore a specially-designed shirt adorned with a mantra he hoped they would adopt.
Make ‘Em Uncomfortable.
“I always kind of have a word every year that I think will be our barometer for our team,” Chauncey Billups said more than three months ago, referring to the shirt. “My word for us this year is just uncomfortable. We want to make people uncomfortable … it’s who we have to be if we’re going to be any good.”
But after a 41-game stretch of ups and downs that has been unlike any other in franchise history, it is the Blazers who have had to cope with being uncomfortable.
Since the second day of the regular season, when federal law enforcement agents showed up at Billups’ Lake Oswego home with an arrest warrant, to the final game of the first half, when franchise cornerstone Deni Avdija was sidelined with an ailing back, the Blazers have faced a mountain of adversity that has threatened to derail their most anticipated campaign in years.
As they cross the halfway point of the 2025-26 NBA season, the Blazers’ record (19-22) may not rank among the elite in the Western Conference, but one could argue it’s a minor miracle they are hovering anywhere close to .500 considering all they’ve been forced to overcome. It has taken a herculean effort from Avdija, the development of a host of young players, the inspiring contributions of a pair of two-way players, the steadiness of Toumani Camara and the unwavering belief that playing hard and playing with heart can overcome almost anything, but the Blazers have remained relevant — and entertaining.
Along the way, they’ve had to grow comfortable amid their uncomfortable reality.
“We have an expression in Brazil,” said acting coach Tiago Splitter, who is from Brazil. “Sometimes you got to sell your lunch to buy your dinner. You just got to figure out how to survive. I’m not going to deny we had to deal with a lot of adversity, but we don’t have time to cry and nobody cares about us outside of this group, this city. Before we started the season, some of the stuff we’ve had to do was unthinkable. But we had to get used to it.”
The unthinkable
The unthinkable started, of course, with Billups.
The embattled coach is fighting federal charges of money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy in connection with a yearslong illegal gambling probe. The Hall of Famer, who for years was the rock of the rebuilding franchise, has almost certainly coached his last game in Portland, if not the NBA. Billups made it through one game before his arrest, forcing general manager Joe Cronin to hastily appoint Splitter acting coach, even though the former NBA champion player had only been with the franchise roughly three months and owned no NBA head coaching experience.
Splitter has handled the impromptu assignment remarkably, earning his player’s respect while providing stability and leadership at a time of chaos. But the Blazers’ chaos only began with coaching turmoil.
Portland has been besieged by injuries, a reality that has come to define the first half of the season and harken back to the “Frail Blazers” era of the franchise.
When Scoot Henderson tore his left hamstring in an offseason pick-up game days before training camp, it foreshadowed what was to come. Twelve players on the Blazers’ 15-man regular roster have combined to miss 226 games this season because of injuries and illnesses, as nine of the 10 members of the opening night rotation — including four of five starters — have missed at least one game.
Only the Indiana Pacers have faced more injuries than the Blazers, according to Spotrac’s NBA injury list tracker.
The Blazers have played 27 games without a natural point guard. They’ve played one without a traditional center. They’ve played most of the season without multiple important defenders. And they’ve played one — so far — without Avdija, who is having an All-Star-caliber season. As a result, Splitter has been forced to use 10 different starting lineups and rely heavily on a pair of two-way players.
“We started the year off having to battle,” backup center Robert Williams III said. “And it’s been a battle ever since. With everything that happened to our team at the beginning, it’s kind of been a major next-man-up mentality. Obviously, we wish we could get every win, win every game, but I like the way we’re trending, I like the fight we’ve shown, I like the way we’ve stayed connected, I like how much we’ve grown in close games. I think we just need to keep up the positive vibes.”
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Lakers NBA game
Deni Avdija's All-Star-caliber play has been the most important development of the first half of the Portland Trail Blazers' season.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
The positives
Indeed, amid all the chaos, there have been a few positive developments.
The most important is the play of Avdija, who has blossomed into a star. As the Blazers navigated life without a point guard for roughly two months, the sixth-year forward served as their primary ball-handler and playmaker, and he deftly expanded his game, increasing his scoring, facilitating and efficiency amid the enhanced role. He’s averaging 26.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.0 assists, while shooting 47% from the field.
There are three players in the NBA averaging at least 25.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists this season: Avdija, MVP Nikola Jokic and All-Star Luka Doncic. And there is only one player who ranks among the top six in total points and assists: Avdija. Along the way, he’s increased his scoring average by 9.2 points and boosted his assists by an average of 3.0, establishing himself as the frontrunner to be named the NBA’s Most Improved Player.
The production is even more impressive considering that Avdija has played without another high-level ball-handler and alongside a shaky collection of shooters (the Blazers are the second-worst three-point shooting team in the NBA). As a result, he has been forced to operate in a packed paint and faced a cornucopia of defensive tactics designed to stop him.
“That’s what I expect from him,” Camara said. “I see him work so much on his game. I see his dedication to his craft, how much he loves the game of basketball, how much he loves winning. Everybody’s able to see it now. I’m super happy for him, the way he’s been playing, the way he’s been communicating, the way he’s been growing … I’m excited for his future for sure.
The Blazers’ front office is drooling over the possibility of a future where Avdija — who is only 25 years old — plays alongside Damian Lillard, a healthy Jrue Holiday and other, more capable, shooters, which will create more space and divert defensive attention.
Avdija’s breakout is the biggest big-picture development for the Blazers this season. But it’s not the only development.
Donovan Clingan, who spent the offseason overhauling his body and improving his stamina, has taken a notable step forward as well, expanding his offensive game around the basket, his three-point shooting, his defense and his rebounding. The second-year center is averaging 10.9 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, ranks fifth in the NBA in rebounding, third in offensive rebounding, and anchors the interior of the Blazers’ defense.
Shaedon Sharpe remains a high-volume shooter who takes too many forced shots and commits too many head-scratching turnovers. But he’s averaging a career-high 21.5 points per game, improving on defense and has been reliable, playing in 37 of 41 games.
“I think he’s getting more mature,” Splitter said. “We ask a lot from him. He’s one of the most talented guys on the team and we challenge him every day with his defense, with his shot selection, with taking care of his body better. He’s so young and he’s still learning how to stay healthy, how to sleep more, eat better — all of the little things that you’ve got to do to survive this league, which is brutal.”
Camara, meanwhile, has further established himself as the heart and soul of the Blazers’ defense, overcoming an early-season shooting slump to build on his solid 2024-25 season. He’s averaging 12.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and has drawn an NBA-leading 48 offensive fouls this season. Camara’s growing leadership in the locker room has been vital as injuries have decimated the roster and his toughness and tenacity — who can forget that lost tooth? — are inspirational.
But the most surprising positives have come from the most unlikely sources: Caleb Love and Sidy Cissoko, a pair of two-way players who have emerged as vital rotation pieces amid all the injuries.
Cissoko’s fearless playing style and emotion have become infectious and Love’s long-range shooting and bench scoring have been so important, it’s fair to wonder where the Blazers would be without the rookie guard. Over the last 12 games, Love is averaging 16.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists, while shooting a team-best 40% from three-point range.
NBA teams typically take on the personality of their stars and the Blazers’ certainly embody Avdija’s confidence and turbo style. But, in some ways, the Blazers have embraced the personalities of their two-way players, who bring an edge and a hunger to each game as they fight for their professional basketball careers.
“Honestly, everyone in here has a chip on their shoulder,” Williams said, looking around the Blazers’ locker room. “That’s the best way to play. But those two guys have brought us a bright light this year when we didn’t have one.”
Trail Blazers Warriors Basketball
Where would the Portland Trail Blazers be without rookie two-way guard Caleb Love. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)AP
A peek at the floor
The rash of injuries has made it difficult, if not impossible, to forecast the ceiling of this young roster. But the Blazers’ front office has learned this much after 41 games: The floor is pretty darn good.
Also, the makeup of the roster is pretty darn tough.
Despite the backbreaking number of injuries, the Blazers enter the second half in the thick of the chase for the NBA Play-In Tournament, sitting three games behind Golden State (22-19) in ninth place in the Western Conference standings. Just hours after Billups’ arrest, the Blazers punked the Warriors at the Moda Center, and they went on to earn flex-worthy wins over Oklahoma City, Denver, Boston, San Antonio and Houston.
Portland has been forced to overhaul its playing style as key player after key player landed on the injury list, abandoning the relentless, defensive-minded, fast-paced approach they debuted in favor of a methodical tactic built around Avdija. But no matter the style, they have remained a tough out.
The Blazers have played 24 “clutch-time” games this season — when the score is within five points in the final five minutes — and they’ve won 14. Both marks rank second in the NBA.
When Splitter took over for Billups, he promised that, if nothing else, the Blazers would play hard and they would fight. And they’ve backed up his words.
“I’m just most proud of how the staff and the players are being resilient,” Splitter said. “It’s not easy to reinvent yourself every week, to have different lineups every week, to deal with injuries every week. But no one has complained and we all continue to fight. Guys are growing, guys are stepping up and you can go one by one — from us coaches to the players — guys are getting better. We just have to keep it up.”