The Portland Trail Blazers are marking their calendars and polishing their scouting reports for the Emirates NBA Cup, which is set to begin on Nov. 12.

Last year, the Blazers went 1-3 in the inaugural In-Season Tournament, which meant that they did not move on to the knockout stage.

Here’s a brief look at who they will face this year and what they could expect:

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves are coming off their first Western Conference Finals appearance in 20 years, and that should make them the favorites to come out of Group A.

Anthony Edwards is emerging as one of the league’s youngest and brightest stars, and that should give the Blazers a nice test early in the season.

LA Clippers

The Clippers look slightly different this season after losing Paul George in free agency to the Philadelphia 76ers.

As a veteran squad that tends to not put their foot on the gas early in the year, the Blazers could view this as an opportunity to make a statement and catch the Clippers sleeping for a potential upset victory.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings made some upgrades this offseason by acquiring DeMar DeRozan from the Chicago Bulls.

Sacramento surprisingly missed the playoffs last season after being the No. 3 seed the year before. DeRozan, along with De’Aaron Fox, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis, will have a lot of urgency at the beginning of the season and could look to make a statement in the NBA Cup.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets are another lottery team that hopes to take a turn this season. After narrowly missing out on the knockout round last season, Houston hopes to change that as well.

The Rockets are returning most of their team back from a year ago, but Steven Adams should help the pick-and-roll game out tremendously and No. 3 overall pick Reed Sheppard could improve spacing significantly.

BE community, what do you think of Portland’s NBA Cup group? Chime off in the comments below.