4. Portland Trail Blazers
Starters – Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Evan Turner, Al-Farouq Aminu, Festus Ezeli
Bench – Shabazz Napier, Allen Crabbe, Maurice Harkless, Mason Plumlee, Ed Davis
The Trail Blazers moved Noah Vonleh and Mason Plumlee to the bench, kicked Aminu to the 4 spot, replaced Plumlee with Ezeli, and signed Turner as another playmaker. Oh and they re-signed McCollum to a max extension after he won MIP. You still with me?
The Trail Blazers are similar to the Denver Nuggets as they have way too much talent and not enough minutes to go around. The only really sure thing I’m sure of in either of these projected units is Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Besides that, you can mix and match and still be left with an incredible starting 5, and a deep bench.
To make things simpler I’ll stick with the above prediction and explain why.
Napier was traded for and is actually a true backup PG, something Portland didn’t have last season that caused McCollum and Lillard to play heavy minutes.
Crabbe’s giant offer sheet from the Nets was matched and honestly is starter money, but Turner gets the edge because of his playmaking ability. Harkless is better suited as a stretch 4, but then all of a sudden you have zero depth behind Turner; and still need to divvy up minutes between Meyers Leonard, Noah Vonleh, Ed Davis, and Mason Plumlee.
Davis was incredibly efficient off the bench and can work as a small-ball 5. Mason Plumlee is a great scorer, but is a bit more durable than Leonard and Vonleh; which is why he gets the final bench spot despite Leonard’s contract extension and Vonleh starting a lot of games for Portland last season.
No matter what the bench is, this Portland team proved they can do a lot with ‘a little’. I can’t wait to see what they do with a lot.
Next: No. 3