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Good morning, Northwest.

After a tumultuous offseason, the Trail Blazers are nearing their return to the court as negotiations over the team’s future in Portland carry on.

Today’s newsletter begins with coverage of Blazers media day. OPB’s Kyra Buckley reports on the state of talks between the team and the city over Moda Center renovations. Troy Brynelson writes about how players are feeling on the brink of the new season.

One correction from yesterday: We misstated how long ago an experimental kalo farm was started in Portland. It was five years ago. OPB regrets the error.

Here’s your First Look at Tuesday’s news.

— Bradley W. Parks

Top story

Blazers optimistic that roster balance will ‘work itself out’ as season looms

The Portland Trail Blazers enter this season with one of the league’s more perplexing roster questions: How will three ball-dominant players gel?

That’s returning All-Star wing Deni Avdija, all-time franchise leading scorer Damian Lillard, and off-season acquisition Ja Morant.

Players, first-time head coach Micah Nori and team officials spoke to media yesterday at the Moda Center, giving local press and fans a look at the various storylines that are weaving into the start of the season. The team’s first practice is today.

How the team will juggle ball-handling duties was among the most persistent questions. So, too, was whether ongoing negotiations between the team and the city of Portland could seep into the locker room. Most players seemed ambivalent about the municipal politics of it all. (Troy Brynelson)

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3 things to know

• The Trail Blazers’ president of business operations underscored the team’s commitment to Portland at media day yesterday as discussions of Moda Center renovations continue in private. (Kyra Buckley)
• Classified workers from Oregon’s seven public universities reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the higher education institutions early yesterday morning — just hours before the SEIU 503 members were set to picket. (Natalie Pate)
• A Republican Wasco County commissioner who helped usher in two decades of Google data center development in The Dalles is running for an Oregon House seat. His campaign ads paint his Democratic opponent as an underhanded supporter of corporate tax breaks for data centers. (Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Northwest headlines

• Washington state worker union OKs new contract with no pay hike (Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard)
• Rick Rizzs calls his last Mariners game (Kathryn Stone, KUOW)
• Washington’s got game: Secretary of State Hobbs rolls the dice for tabletop overseas (Dyer Oxley, KUOW)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

• From humble Portland roots to worldwide reach, Tape Op magazine celebrates 30 years
• A Portlander’s second act making realistic fake food and other props for the stage

One more look

Exiled from the Klamath Basin, Modoc descendants are finding their way home

In the 1860s, war split the Modoc Nation in the Klamath Basin. Some tribal members were exiled to Oklahoma, while others became absorbed into the Klamath Tribes.

Now, the descendants of the exiled band are returning to reclaim that lost homeland. As the tribe has expanded its footprint in the region, though, the response has been mixed.

Robert Burkybile, chief of the Modoc Nation, said he’s focused on assuring people they want to reconnect with the community.

“We’re not there to take a slice of the pie,” he said. “We feel we’re trying to add to it, and unfortunately, maybe we haven’t done a great job expressing that.” (Justin Higginbottom, JPR)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/09/29/trail-blazers-media-day-first-look/