After the Portland Trail Blazers lost by 30 points to the LA Clippers on Monday night, Chauncey Billups was not happy with his team's effort level. Billups said, "It was embarrassing." Billups, clearly upset with his team, added, "We never competed like we wanted to win the basketball game, and that's disappointing."

Portland turned the call over 30 times. Guard C.J. McCollum said the Blazers couldn't beat "a middle school team" with that many turnovers. The Trail Blazers also shot just 38.1% from the field, including 8-for-37 on three-pointers.

McCollum summed up the loss well by saying, "They whooped our ass. A shellacking."

When Norman Powell was injured in the second quarter of the Portland Trail Blazers victory over the Phoenix Suns, the worst was feared. After an initial exam, Portland is encouraged that Powell didn't suffer a serious left knee injury.

Prior to getting hurt, Powell had scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting in just over 12 minutes. The Blazers went on to hand the Suns a blowout loss for their first victory of the year.

Portland acquired Powell at the 2021 trade deadline from the Toronto Raptors. The Trail Blazers then re-signed Powell to a five-year, $90 million contract as a free agent.

On the eve of the 21-22 regular season, Damian Lillard responded to a question about the possibility of trade speculation if the Portland Trail Blazers get off to a slow start.

“I’ll answer that the same way I answered it on media day: I’m not leaving Portland," said Damian Lillard. "It’s an easy thing and a popular thing to say but it’s not gonna happen."

There were reports over the offseason that Lillard was close to requesting a trade from the Blazers, which he refuted at the time.

"Adversity is going to hit, there’s goong to be tough times. So if it starts off rocky or if it starts out as a struggle I won’t be happy about it, nobody would. But I’m not going to jump ship and bail out when that happens.”

Lillard also spoke with Jason Quick of The Athletic about how his conversations with Chauncey Billups have changed his mindset. 

“I think a big part of (my change in mindset) was me and Chauncey’s conversations, and where we see things the same,” Lillard said. “I’m not going to share details of our conversations, but it’s not often when I speak to people that they see what I see. Watching a game, observing people … there’s not many people who see what I see. But a lot of what I see, he sees. So that was very important to me. Like, that was a big deal.”

It's relatively rare for a player on a non-guaranteed training camp deal to earn a regular season roster spot. This is generally limited to one player every few years. This offseason, five players outplayed their camp invite status and seem to have stuck for the regular season.

This group includes: Isaiah Hartenstein (LA Clippers), Wayne Selden (New York Knicks), Dennis Smith Jr. (Portland Trail Blazers), Matt Thomas (Chicago Bulls), Brad Wanamaker (Indiana Pacers). Armoni Brooks could be included in this grouping as well, but his situation was somewhat unique given his re-signed status and conversion process as a former Two-Way player.

When a player makes an opening night roster on a training camp deal, their contract converts to a standard non-guaranteed contract. Prior to that happening, a camp deal doesn't count against the salary cap or tax, and there is no guaranteed salary.

Prior to this season, Dwight Howard was the last player to go from camp invite to roster. Howard made the Los Angles Lakers roster out of camp in 2019.

Dennis Smith Jr. has made the opening night roster of the Portland Trail Blazers, while they also waived three Marquese Chriss, Quinn Cook, and Patrick Patterson.

Chriss appeared in all four preseason games for the Trail Blazers, posting averages of 4.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.00 steal and 13.2 minutes.

Cook played in two preseason games for Portland, averaging 3.5 points, 1.0 rebound, 0.5 assists and 13.3 minutes.

In two preseason appearances, Patterson averaged 3.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 13.7 minutes.

It's no secret the Philadelphia 76ers would love to add Damian Lillard in a swap that includes Ben Simmons. A league source says that isn't realistic right now. That source added that the Sixers are "waiting on a prayer" in hopes of dealing for the Portland Trail Blazers star.

When Daryl Morey, Doc Rivers, Josh Harris, and Elton Brand met with Simmons and Rich Paul in Los Angeles, Simmons' camp believed a deal would go down by the 2021 NBA Draft. At that meeting, Simmons made it clear he wouldn't be returning to Philadelphia.

Several teams remain engaged with the Sixers in trade talks for Simmons. To this point, Morey has held out in hopes of landing a deal for a star player, whether that be Lillard or Bradley Beal. While that plays out, Simmons continues to be a holdout from the preseason.

The Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers have engaged on trade discussions for Ben Simmons. The talks centered around a swap of Simmons for C.J. McCollum, but died due to Philadelphia seeking multiple first round picks. Daryl Morey reportedly asked for three first round picks and pick swaps in the intervening years, in addition to McCollum.

To this point, the Sixers have found little traction in Simmons trade talks. Morey continues to set a high price for his disgruntled All-Star.

The 76ers have kept and open dialogue with Simmons' camp, but nothing has changed with Simmons' trade request. Simmons has reportedly packed and moved his belongings from his Philadelphia-area home. He'll soon list the home for sale, as he continues to hold out for a trade.

New Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was recently a guest on SiriusXM NBA Radio. As part of the Blazers season preview show, Billups was asked about star guard Damian Lillard's future in Portland. Billups said when talking to Lillard he wouldn't push the franchise player to stay in Portland, “I came here to coach you, but it’s your career, it’s your life and it’s your family.”

Billups went on to say, “I’ve been there before, and I’m not going to be the guy preaching ‘Stay here, go there, do this'...That’s going to be you making a decision for you and your family.”

Lillard has expressed frustration with the Trail Blazers inability to put a championship-level team around him. While he hasn't requested a trade, it's been speculated that Lillard could hit that point if Portland fails to win big this season. At Media Day, Lillard seemed optimistic about the team's offseason moves, as he said, "We're moving in the right direction."

The Portland Trail Blazers have exercised the fourth-year rookie scale option for the 22-23 season on Nassir Little.

The contract is worth $4.17 million for Little. 

Little averaged 4.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 13.3 minutes over 48 games for the Blazers last season.