What the fans will remember, what Terry Stotts will remember, what I will remember from Wednesday night’s exhibition opener for the Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden are all different things.

Fans left the arena thinking about the victory — 97-80 over the Denver Nuggets — and Meyers Leonard’s salty dunk and Wesley Matthews’ hot hand and Victor Claver’s 3-point shooting and Coby Karl’s savvy play.

Stotts, Portland’s first-year head coach, will take away a solid defensive performance and 27 assists in 37 baskets and how the battle for the 15th roster spot went between Adam Morrison and Sasha Pavlovic.

I headed out the doors thinking about how important rookies Leonard, Claver, Damian Lillard and Joel Freeland will be in determining whether the Blazers are also-rans or surprise playoff contenders in their maiden NBA voyage.

Let’s hit the fans’ thoughts first.

Leonard’s one-handed jam off a Karl lob pass near the end of the first quarter was a piece of artistry combined with athleticism.

“That was a pretty exciting dunk,” the 7-1 Leonard said.

Stotts didn’t see Leonard’s other slam, in the fourth quarter off a feed from Will Barton.

“I came off the court and Coach Stotts was mad at me because I ran the play wrong,” Leonard said. After the second dunk, “He said, ‘I didn’t get to see that one.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll see my first one on TV tonight.’ ”

The words sound cocky, but Leonard said it in the innocent, playful manner that will make him endearing to the media and public. He’s like a frisky colt on the court, one of the best running big men I’ve seen come down the pike in ages, a good shot-blocker with a decent shooting touch and — in football lexicon — a good motor.

Matthews can get in a shooting zone, and he was in one early Wednesday, scoring 14 of his game-high 19 points before intermission. Portland’s 6-5 shooting guard worked in the offseason on his handle, but it was his perimeter shot that was on display against a Denver team resting starters Ty Lawson and Corey Brewer.

Claver, a 6-9 small forward from Spain who had played sparingly in the first three preseason contests, got hot late, scoring eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. He buried three 3-pointers and had two others rim out, though Stotts was quick to point out that there is much more to the game than scoring points.

“Victor played well, but when you make shots, everybody notices you more,” Stotts said correctly. “I don’t want to define a guy’s performance by whether he makes shots or not.”

With point guards Lillard and Ronnie Price idled by injuries, Karl had a big night at the position, scoring 11 points with five assists and two turnovers in 19 minutes. He sank 3 of 4 shots — 2 of 2 from 3-point range — as his father, George, watched from the No. 1 spot on the visitors’ bench as the Denver head coach.

“Regardless of whether his dad was here tonight, it was a terrific performance,” Stotts said. “He was plus-15 (in point differential) in the 10 minutes he played in the first half. He controlled the offense, made good defensive plays, made shots — I was happy for him. He’s an NBA player, and he showed that tonight.”

The last part of Stotts’ comment was telling. A long-time assistant with George Karl in Seattle and Milwaukee, Stotts has known Coby since he was knee-high to a grasshopper. Karl, who has bounced around the basketball minor leagues with a few cups of coffee in the bigs, is being showcased in Portland but has little or no chance to make a Blazer squad carrying 15 guaranteed contracts.

“I hope teams were watching that performance,” Stotts told reporters. “He should be on an NBA roster.”

The battle for the 15th and final roster spot is between forwards Pavlovic — who has a guaranteed contract — and Morrison. Pavlovic had little to show for his six minutes Wednesday night. Morrison made a 3-point shot but was erratic in his nine minutes. The decision between the pair will likely go to the wire.

Claver and Freeland — the latter a 6-11 center/forward from England — are good enough to be useful rotation players for Portland this season. Freeland made only 1 of 6 shots against the Nuggets, but he has a nice-looking release with range out to 3-point territory. He and Claver both hustled and battled during their time on the court.

“That’s my job,” said Freeland, who had a team-high eight rebounds in his 21 minutes. “I went out there and scrapped and got rebounds and was running around playing defense. It’s what I need to do.

“The NBA is different than what I know. it’s a completely different game, a completely different caliber of person. I have to adapt quickly. Tonight, I was pleased with what I did.”

Said Stotts: “Both of them are learning the speed of the NBA game and the terminology and defense and things like that. They’re both at a good learning rate.”

Nolan Smith — bidding for backup time at the point — played 31 minutes in a starting role. The second-year Duke product made only 3 of 11 shots but finished with nine points, eight assists, five rebounds and only two turnovers and played decent defense against Denver veteran Andre Miller.

Two weeks from now, when they open the regular season with a Halloween night showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers at the Garden, things will be much different for the Blazers.

The starting unit is set — Mathews and Lillard at guard, J.J. Hickson at center, LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum at forward. Price and Smith will be the first two guards off the bench and Leonard will get his minutes at the post. Claver looks capable of winning the job as Batum’s backup, but may get bumped out of playing time by the logjam at power forward that includes Freeland, Jared Jeffries and Luke Babbitt.

“We have a lot of fours and fives who can contribute — LaMarcus, J.J., Meyers, Jared, Luke and Joel,” Stotts said. “I have tough decisions to make as far as playing time. LaMarcus is going to play 35 to 38 minutes. After that, it might be on feel. It might be on matchups.”

I asked Aldridge for his thoughts on how the Blazers are shaping up as they pass the midway point of the preseason.

“We have the potential to surprise a lot of people,” he said. “We have a lot of talent. We have a lot of young guys, so a lot depends on how they come along, but we have some good core pieces — myself, Wes, Nic, J.J., Jared Jeffries. We have some veterans, too.”

Is there more on Aldridge’s shoulders this season than ever before?

“Of course,” he said with a nod. “But I don’t mind that.

“This is part of my growth. I’m trying to get better. This is an opportunity for me to work on leading, and I think I will this year.”

On Halloween night, we’ll begin to know more about that. For sure, though, we know the future of this young Blazer group isn’t now.