TheTrail Blazers‘ starting lineup when their season tips off on Wednesday vs. Minnesota will consist ofJrue Holiday andShaedon Sharpe in the backcourt,Toumani Camara andDeni Avdija at forward, andDonovan Clingan in the middle,tweets Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.
That means forwardJerami Grant will come off the bench for the first time since joining the Blazers in 2022 — and the first time since he was a member of the Nuggets during the 2019/20 season.
Grant, who was traded from Detroit to Portland during the 2022 offseason, has started all 164 games he has played for the team since then, averaging 18.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 34.1 minutes per game across those three seasons.
The 31-year-old is the second-highest-paid player on the roster, just behind Holiday, and remains under contract for at least two more years beyond this one, with a player option for 2027/28. However, he has been surpassed on the depth chart by Camara and Avdija, two younger players who look like long-term fixtures in Portland. Camara just signed a four-year contract extension with the team and is locked up through 2029/30, while Avdija has three guaranteed years left on his deal.
Asked about the possibility of coming off the bench at media daylast month, Grant replied,“I don’t really expect that.” Helater sought to clarify that he wouldn’t become disgruntled if he doesn’t end up starting, indicating that he’d be “fine” with it.
While the Blazers’ decision to move Grant out of the starting five doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given the way that Camara and Avdija have emerged, it’s still a situation worth keeping an eye on during the first half of the season. The veteran forward looks like a potential trade candidate, but he has three years and $102.6MM left on his contract and is coming off an injury-plagued season in which he was limited to 47 games, so his value on the trade market would be extremely limited right now.
While he’s not sure who will be ready for Wednesday’s season opener against Minnesota, head coachChauncey Billups saidToumani Camara (knee),Deni Avdija (back),Robert Williams (knee) andMatisse Thybulle (knee) were full participants in Monday’s practice,tweets Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.
Williams, who has been plagued by knee issues throughout his career, was limited to just 20 games last season. He didn’t play at all during the preseason, nor did Thybulle, who appeared in just 15 games last season due to knee and ankle issues.
Camara, the recipient of a newfour-year, $81MM extension, appeared in two preseason games, while Avdija played in all four butexited the finale with upper back stiffness.
We have more injury updates from around the NBA:
Rookie big manDerik Queen has been medically cleared to participate in full basketball activities, thePelicans announced today (via Twitter).
Head coachWillie Green said Queen was a full participant in Saturday’s practice,tweets Will Guillory of The Athletic. While the team wants to get Queen up to speed, Green said New Orleans will be careful not to rush the process after a lengthy layoff.
Queen has been rehabilitating fromJuly surgery to address a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist, an injury he sustained at Summer League in Las Vegas. He was alimited participant during New Orleans’ training camp due to the injury.
Queen was selected with the 13th overall pick in June after the Pelicanssent Atlanta this year’s No. 23 selection and an unprotected 2026 first-rounder (the most favorable of New Orleans’ and Milwaukee’s picks) for the right to draft the Maryland big man, who was highly productive in his lone season with the Terrapins. In 36 games last season, the 20-year-old forward/center averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 30.4 minutes per contest.
We have several more injury notes from around the NBA:
Asked at theTrail Blazers‘ media day on Monday if there’s any scenario in which he plays this season,Damian Lillard admitted it’s hard to envision making it back from his Achilles tear before the 2026/27 campaign.
“I don’t plan on it,”Lillard said of playing in ’25/26, per Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter link).“I feel like if this team is a one seed (without me), they probably got it. I’m trying to be as healthy as possible.”
Lillard added that the trainers and other players who have sustained Achilles injuries who have spoken to him about the recovery process have stressed patience and suggested that he shouldn’t be trying to make it back “in record time” (Twitter link via Highkin).
Although he almost certainly won’t be suiting up for the Trail Blazers this season, Lillard will still be one of the 15 players on the team’s standard roster, which head coachChauncey Billups believes puts the longtime star point guard in a unique position when it comes to mentoring Portland’s younger players.
“He’s not a coach. He’s still a player. There’s a different level of connectivity that comes with that,” Billups said, noting that he wants Lillard to “keep a really close eye” onShaedon Sharpe,Deni Avdija, andScoot Henderson (Twitter link via Highkin).
Henderson, like Lillard, will be unavailable when the season begins, though hishamstring injury is only projected to keep him out for the start of the season, not all of it. Speaking on Monday to reporters, he referred to the injury as a “freak accident” and “minor setback” and said he’s still feeling positive about the season (Twitterlinks). Billups noted it’s a disappointing turn of events for the former No. 3 overall pick because he’d had an “incredible summer” prior to the injury (Twitter link).
Here’s more from the Blazers’ media day, via Highkin:
Dennis Schröder credited Dirk Nowitzki with inspiring the current crop of players who have turned Germany into an international basketball power, writesEdvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. After capturing MVP honors while leading his team to the gold medal at EuroBasket, Schröder paid tribute to the Mavericks legend, who was a German basketball icon in addition to his 21-year NBA career.
“Dirk, what he’s been doing for the German national team and what he’s done in the NBA and in the national team made us come to the national team and represent our country,” Schröder said.
Nowitzki is one of the greatest players in European history and earned a long list of honors in international competitions. Schröder is also building an impressive resume, adding the EuroBasket gold to the championship he won at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and a bronze medal in the 2022 EuroBasket, but he doesn’t want to be compared to Nowitzki.
“At the end of the day, my name is Dennis Schröder, and I’m just Dennis Schröder, and that’s my legacy,”he said.“Whatever I can bring to the table to make sure my teammates are good and we compete at the highest level and win gold medals. That’s what I’m going to do. Everything else doesn’t matter.”
There’s more from EuroBasket:
Led byBucks superstarGiannis Antetokounmpo, who dominated with 37 points (on 18-of-23 shooting) and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes, Greece was the final team to advance to the quarterfinals of EuroBasket 2025 on Sunday after defeating Israel.
Although the game was close through most of the first three quarters and the final margin of victory was only five points, the Greek national team never trailed and was ahead for 39:13 of the 40-minute contest, according toFIBA.Trail Blazers forwardDeni Avdija scored a team-high 22 points for Israel in the loss.
Greece will now face Lithuania, whicheliminated host nation Latvia in the round of 16.
In apress release, FIBA announced the dates and tip-off times for each single-elimination quarterfinal matchup, which will continue to be held in Riga, Latvia. They are as follows:
Tuesday, September 9:
Wednesday, September 10:
Turkey and Germany are the only two undefeated teams (6-0) in the tournament, withboth advancing to the quarterfinals on Saturday following victories over Sweden and Portugal, respectively. Turkey faces Poland, which went 3-2 in the group phase and knocked off Bosnia and Herzegovina for a spot in the quarterfinals, while Germany will take on Slovenia, whichousted Italy.
Serbia and France, which both went 4-1 during the group phase and were among the favorites to medal,bothlost in the round of 16. Finland and Georgia pulled off those upsets, and will now meet for a spot in the semifinals.
The teams that were eliminated in the round of 16 have beenofficially classified as well. Group position was the primary criterion, followed by group phase record and point differential.
After shooting a rough 23.8% from the field in Italy’s first two EuroBasket games,Heat forwardSimone Fontecchio rebounded in a big way on Sunday. As The Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang (Twitter link) relays, Fontecchio poured in 39 points while shooting 65.0% from the field and 70.0% from three in a win against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also added eight rebounds and three assists across 37 minutes.
The Italian forward brokehis country’s all-time single-game scoring record, surpassingAndrea Bargnani‘s 36 points in 2011. The only other modern player in Italy’s all-time top five isDanilo Gallinari‘s 33 points in 2015.
Fontecchio’s breakout EuroBasket game, which included seven three-pointers, is an encouraging sign for the Heat. Fontecchio arrived in Miami in the trade that sent the Heat’s all-time leader in three-pointers,Duncan Robinson, to the Pistons.
We have more from EuroBasket:
On the heels of the FIBA World Cup in 2023 and the Paris Olympics in 2024, the 2025 NBA offseason doesn’t feature a major international tournament in which the United States’ top stars are competing.
However, several of the league’s biggest names – including three-time Most Valuable PlayerNikola Jokic, two-time MVPGiannis Antetokounmpo, and five-time All-NBA first-teamerLuka Doncic – are taking part in FIBA EuroBasket 2025, which tipped off on Wednesday.
The tournament, also known as the European Basketball Championship, takes place every four years and features 24 European countries vying for a gold medal. The 24 teams who qualified for EuroBasket are split up into four groups and will face the other teams in their group across five games from August 27 to September 4.
At the end of group play, the top four teams from each group will advance to the knockout round, which is a single-elimination tournament featuring the remaining 16 countries.
By our count, 28 active NBA players are taking part in EuroBasket 2025, along with 30 former NBA players and several more who were selected in an NBA draft but have yet to play in the league.
Here’s the full list of current and former NBA players set to compete in EuroBasket, sorted by group and country:
Czechia (Czech Republic)
Estonia
Latvia
Portugal
Serbia
Serbia’s roster also includesNikola Milutinov andVanja Marinkovic, who are former NBA draft picks but have never played in the league.
Turkey
Finland
Germany
Great Britain
Lithuania
Lithuania’s roster also includesRokas Jokubaitis, a former NBA draft pick who has never played in the league, andAzuolas Tubelis, who was on a two-way contract with the Sixers during the 2023 offseason but was waived before the season began.
Montenegro
Sweden
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cyprus
Georgia
Greece
Italy
Italy’s roster also includesMatteo Spagnolo,Gabriele Procida, andSaliou Niang, who are former NBA draft picks but have never played in the league.
Spain
Belgium
France
France’s roster also includesIsaia Cordinier, a former NBA draft pick who has never played in the league.
Iceland
Israel
Israel’s roster also includesYam Madar, a former NBA draft pick who has never played in the league.
Poland
Slovenia
Serbia is among the favorites as EuroBasket gets ready to open next week, and captainBogdan Bogdanovic recognizes the expectations for his star-filled team, according toEurohoops. Serbia hasn’t won the event in 24 years, and it has been placed in a challenging Group A along with Turkey, Czechia, Portugal, Estonia and host Latvia.
“We are aware of it, but our focus should be on the upcoming tournament,”Bogdanovic said of the long drought.“Do we feel it? Yes. But that’s part of the game. You have to embrace it and push through.”
Bogdanovic has the advantage of playing alongside one of game’s elite talents inNikola Jokic, and he said Jokic has a “front vision” that allows him to remain a few steps ahead of the action. He also discussed some of the tournament’s other stars, including Greece’sGiannis Antetokounmpo and Slovenia’sLuka Doncic.
“Giannis is pure athleticism,”Bogdanovic said. “You can’t make mistakes against him because he punishes them all the time. His defense is incredible, and running in transition makes him unstoppable.(Doncic) can kill anyone in a tournament. He can go for 50, 60 points … that’s what makes him special.”
There’s more from EuroBasket:
Terrence Shannon Jr. wasnamed to the All-Summer First Team on Tuesday. The Timberwolves guard stood out in Las Vegas and he’ll look to parlay that success in his second NBA season, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.
Shannon could be as the main candidate to fill the void left byNickeil Alexander-Walker, who averaged 25.3 minutes per game last season and signed with the Hawks as a free agent. Shannon will battleJaylen Clark andRob Dillingham for those minutes. A late first-round pick in 2024, the 24-year-old appeared in 32 regular season games as a rookie.
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
