Blazers Open Against the Suns With Avdija Questionable and a Lillard-Morant Backcourt on Debut

Opening night in Portland comes with an asterisk the size of a starting forward. The Portland Trail Blazers open the 2026-27 NBA regular season against the Phoenix Suns at the Moda Center on Wednesday, October 21, and the headline act — a new-look backcourt of Damian Lillard and Ja Morant — may have to carry the show without the player who carried so much of last season. Deni Avdija is listed as questionable with right ankle soreness, according to the Blazers’ injury report covered by Yardbarker and ClutchPoints, and his status shapes everything about how this opener will look. Tip-off is set for 10 p.m. ET, Sportsbook Wire reported. For a fan base that has waited a full year to see Lillard in a Blazers uniform again, even a diminished version of this night is still a very big night.

Why Avdija matters so much

It is easy to say a questionable tag on opening night is a small thing. In Avdija’s case, it is not. The 25-year-old averaged 24.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game last season, earning his first All-Star selection, Yardbarker reported, in a report syndicated from ClutchPoints. He was, in the plainest terms, Portland’s main playmaker — the forward through whom the offense could breathe when the guards were bottled up. And there is history in this specific matchup: in the teams’ last meeting, Avdija scored 41 points with 12 assists and seven rebounds in a 114-110 play-in victory over Phoenix, the same report noted. The Suns do not need to be reminded who hurt them last spring. Portland would rather not find out, this early, what life looks like without him.

The timing is rotten, too. Yardbarker reported that the ankle issue seemingly emerged during Portland’s Tuesday morning workout at its practice facility in Tualatin — not a lingering preseason knock, but a fresh problem roughly a day before the season starts. Avdija had enjoyed strong preseason outings, NBC Sports noted in its fantasy injury report, and expectations for his season are high. None of that guarantees a long absence; questionable means questionable, and a one-game absence would barely register by November. But rotations are set in these first weeks, and a first-year head coach would prefer to set his with his best forward available.

The rest of a crowded Portland report

Avdija is not alone on the list, and the shape of the absences matters. Portland will be without Shaedon Sharpe, who is out following right meniscus surgery — Particle News, summarizing the official report, noted Sharpe is recovering from August meniscus surgery — and without reserve big Branden Carlson, who is in concussion protocol. Two-way guard Chris Youngblood is out with left ankle soreness, and forward Micah Potter is questionable with an illness. Fadeaway World’s preview of the game listed the same five names in the same categories, which is another way of saying this is not one outlet’s guesswork: the official report is what it is, and it leaves Portland short on exactly the thing Avdija provides — proven wing depth. Outside Avdija and Toumani Camara, NBC Sports observed, the Blazers do not have much proven depth at the forward spots.

Lillard, Morant and the three-guard question

Here is the part of the night nobody in Portland is actually dreading. Lillard is healthy again after missing the entire 2025-26 season with a torn Achilles, Sportsbook Wire reported, and he looked, by all accounts, like himself in the preseason: 17.3 points in just 22.7 minutes per game, with eight three-pointers across three appearances, according to Fadeaway World’s preview. Morant, added in the offseason, arrives off an injury-filled final season in Memphis in which he put up 19.5 points and 8.1 assists in only 20 games, the same preview noted. Two guards who have each been the sun of an offense, sharing a backcourt, in front of a Moda Center crowd that has imagined this exact picture for months.

If Avdija cannot go, first-year coach Micah Nori may lean all the way into it. NBC Sports reported that Nori could start Lillard, Morant and Jrue Holiday together — an undersized but fascinating three-guard lineup — and that there have been reports Morant could come off the bench, a plan that may change if Avdija is out. Yardbarker’s report pointed to Sidy Cissoko as Avdija’s expected replacement if a like-for-like forward is preferred, with Vit Krejci the other option NBC mentioned. There is also a size argument in Portland’s favor regardless: with Donovan Clingan protecting the rim and Phoenix missing its starting-caliber center, Fadeaway World argued the Blazers should hold a significant advantage inside. Follow the matchup live in Previously Sports and check the wider opening-week picture in the newsroom.

Phoenix arrives lighter, but not empty-handed

The Suns have their own list, and it is shorter. Phoenix will be without center Mark Williams, who is out after surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, Yardbarker reported, and guard Luke Kennard is questionable with left knee tendinopathy, an injury the report said he picked up in the preseason game against the Chicago Bulls earlier this month. Sportsbook Wire’s preview listed the same two names for Phoenix. That is the whole of it — two names against Portland’s five — and it leaves the Suns’ core intact for a team that went 45-37 last season before a first-round exit at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, as both Yardbarker and Sportsbook Wire recounted. Portland, by contrast, finished 42-40 and also exited in the first round.

Phoenix also added around the edges. Sportsbook Wire noted the Suns brought in forward Miles Bridges and Kennard in the offseason and start the season with guard Jalen Green healthy, while Sports Illustrated’s preview pointed to Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks once again leading the way for Phoenix. Oddsmakers, for what it is worth on a night this emotional, made Portland a slight home favorite: Sports Illustrated and Sportsbook Wire both listed the Blazers at -2.5 with a total of 231.5. That line is a coin flip wearing a home jersey — which is about right for an opener in which one team’s best forward is a game-time decision and the other team’s starting center is already done for the night before it starts.

Strip away the injury report and the story of the evening is simple enough: a beloved star returns, a dazzling new partner debuts beside him, and a city gets to believe again for at least one night. Whether Avdija joins them is the detail that could turn a celebration into a scramble. Portland has the guards to survive his absence, and maybe even to thrill through it. It would just rather not have to prove that on the first night of the season.