The NBA season is underway, and the Portland Trail Blazers have gotten off to a red-hot start. Portland has started the season 4-0, and they look like an extremely competitive team in the Western Conference.

They had a very eventful offseason to build an improved roster around star Damian Lillard. The Blazers went out and acquired forward Jerami Grant in a trade with the Detroit Pistons. Grant is a tremendous 3&D forward that will play a significant role for them. Portland was also able to add Gary Payton II, a key role player for the Golden State Warriors title run last season. They re-signed guard Anfernee Simons and centers Jusuf Nurkic and Drew Eubanks. The Blazers also drafted Shaedon Sharpe with the 7th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, who will be a 3&D wing for them.

While these moves were all important, the biggest move was extending Lillard to a lucrative two-year $121 million deal. That ties him to the Blazers franchise through the 2025-26 season with a player option in the 2026-27 season.

Portland has defeated the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, and Denver Nuggets. These are impressive wins as the Suns and Nuggets are solidified playoff teams while the Lakers and Kings will be fighting for a spot in the postseason. The Blazers will look to continue their dominant start in what will be a tough Western Conference.

With that said, here are the three hottest Blazers takes from their red-hot first week of the 2022-23 NBA season.

3. Blazers must extend Josh Hart

Josh Hart has been a tremendous role player, and the Blazers need to extend him. Hart does a little bit of everything and fits well alongside Lillard. In four games this season, Hart is averaging 11 points per game, along with 10.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Despite being 6'5”, Hart is able to crash the glass with the best of them.

He is contributing 1.3 steals per contest as well as shooting 53.1 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc. Hart's play is essential to the Blazers' success, as you need quality role players to be a championship-caliber team. Hart has a player option at the end of the season, which he could opt out of as he is playing himself toward a bigger contract. Portland needs to make extending Hart a priority.

2. Damian Lillard is an MVP candidate

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The Houston Rockets invested heavily into Fred VanVleet during the 2023 offseason. Houston gave the point guard a three-year, $128 million deal in a move that was meant to turn the Rockets from a rebuilding team into a championship contending one. The signing did just that, as the Rockets finished the 2024-25 regular season as the two-seed in a stacked Western Conference. VanVleet was the veteran presence and 3-point shooter that the team desperately needed, and he still might have a role with the Rockets going forward. Houston has a team option on his contract for next year, and they very well may pick it up. The Wichita State product reportedly wants to stay in Houston, but the point guard would be set to make over $44 million next season under his current contract. The Rockets and their guard recently pushed back the deadline on Houston's decision with VanVleet, and although reports suggest that they are interested in writing up a new, long-term deal, it isn't necessarily a guarantee that VanVleet will be playing for Houston next year. The Rockets blew him away with an offer he couldn't refuse back in 2023, and another team could so the same when/if he hits the open market this offseason. If VanVleet does become an unrestricted free agent, which teams outside of Houston would make the most sense for him to sign with? 1. Orlando Magic Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner recently signed big deals with the Orlando Magic, and Paolo Banchero will be getting a mega contract extension here soon. Because of that, the Magic no longer have money to blow like they have had in recent years. That will make a deal for another big ticket free agent hard to pull off, especially considering the team signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope last year. If Orlando can make the money work, though, then Fred VanVleet would be a great fit with the Magic. The Magic finished dead last in 3-point shooting this season, and VanVleet has made at least 2.5 deep balls per game in every season since 2018-19. VanVleet can hit shots form behind the arc off of the bounce or in catch-and-shoot situations. The Rockets were heavily reliant on his shooting expertise, so the guard would have plenty of familiarity getting up deep shots with high volume if he signed with the Magic. While undersized, VanVleet is a pesky defender, so he'd fit right in with a Magic team that has one of the best defensive units in the league. VanVleet could play alongside Suggs and give opposing teams fits. Ultimately, though, the Magic just need more shooting to get to the next level, and VanVleet is arguably the best shooter who could be available on the open market this offseason. 2. Brooklyn Nets A more realistic option for a VanVleet destination would be the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are set up to have the most cap space this offseason, and they have a major need at point guard. With D'Angelo Russell and De'Anthony Melton hitting free agency this offseason, the Nets don't have a true point guard under contract for next season. Brooklyn needs to spend big this offseason, and they'd be smart to offer VanVleet a contract big enough that he'd have no choice but to leave Houston. VanVleet averaged 14.1 points per game last season, which was his lowest mark since 2018-19. He is trending the wrong way, but he still has enough left in the tank to give the Nets a few good seasons. 3. Portland Trail Blazers In the same way that the Rockets were looking to take the next step in 2023, the Portland Trail Blazers could use VanVleet's presence to get over the hump. The Trail Blazers have plenty of big man depth, as centers Deandre Ayton, Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams, and Duop Death are all under contract next season. Portland also has a lot of wing depth. Deni Advija started to look like a star late this past season, Toumani Camara is an elite defender, Shaedon Sharpe is a freakish athlete, and Jerami Grant is a proven scorer. The team is thinner in the backcourt, though. Anfernee Simons is a solid scorer, but Scoot Henderson has looked like a fringe draft bust since being drafted third overall. Portland shouldn't give up on Henderson completely, but there wouldn't be any harm in signing another guard. Like the Magic, the Blazers were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA. VanVleet would improve that weakness, and in a stacked Western Conference, Portland needs all of the help they can get if they are to compete for a playoff spot.
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Lillard has started the season off on fire after the 2021-22 season, where he only played in 29 games. He is averaging 33.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three.

Lillard is on a mission this season and has put himself in the MVP race early. His team is undefeated, and he is top five in scoring in the NBA. While it's a small sample size, Lillard looks determined to get his team back to the playoffs and try to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in his career.

1. Blazers are a title contender

Although there have only been four games played, the Blazers have put themselves in the conversation to be a title contender. They have put together a well-rounded roster around Lillard and have shown that they can beat opposing star power.

The NBA has a ton of talented teams that could compete for the title this season, and Portland has emerged among them.

The Blazers will look to continue their red-hot start on Wednesday when they take on the Miami Heat.