The Portland Trail Blazers have made quite the turnaround as a franchise; here’s how they’re doing it
During the 2015 NBA offseason, the Portland Trail Blazers didn’t just lose LaMarcus Aldridge, they lost 4 of their 5 starters. Wes Matthews went to the Mavs, Robin Lopez to the Knicks, Nicolas Batum was traded to the Hornets and Aldridge signed with the Spurs.
Even with Damian Lillard leading the way the basketball world thought anything that was brewing in Portland, was now dead and gone.
Portland didn’t see it like that, they saw it as an opportunity. The loss of all those players saw former role players like C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard blossom into above-average starters and all-star caliber player(s).
On top of the players stepping up, Blazers coach Terry Stotts established himself as one of the best coaches in the NBA leading the Blazers to a surprising 5th seed in a conference where they were supposed to be lottery bound.
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The Portland Trail Blazers not only made the playoffs but made it to the second round, at that, and even stole a game from the Golden State Warriors.
Instead of giving up, the Blazers retooled and Stotts redesigned his gameplan(s) around what is now one of the best backcourts in the NBA – in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. The Blazers didn’t just stop there, they came into the 2016 offseason firing on all cylinders.
Unfortunately, the small market team couldn’t land their top target(s), in Chandler Parsons and Dwight Howard, but retooled with some awesome talent.
The Blazers managed to re-sign Meyers Leonard and Allen Crabbe longterm, solidifying their youth and core. Portland also brought in some new talent as well. The Blazers added another solid defending G/F prototype in Evan Turner to help Lillard out defensively along with Crabbe.
Something the Blazers lacked a lot of last season was rim protection and they also brought that in with Festus Ezeli. Now, you may be thinking Turner and Ezeli aren’t superstar caliber players, but it’s a start for Portland.
Both of those players will be able to contribute right away and see ample playing time to make an impact. Not only that, but it’s not like they had to clear out cap to bring those players in; they had the cap, so why not use it when it only goes up – again – next season?
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The bottom line is, things are turning up in the post-LMA era in Rip City. They have a great coach, fantastic management and a very solid roster. Clearly, what they have still doesn’t compete with the Warriors or Spurs on paper, but I think they have a legitimate shot at a 3rd or 4th seed this season.
It would come to no surprise to me if Damian Lillard, someone who I have as an early NBA MVP candidate, led them to the 55-win mark.