18. Portland Trail Blazers
Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY SportsArguably the toughest team to rank on this list.
As an eighth seed slated to have a $137 million payroll next year and no foreseeable hope of contending, they could easily be in the bottom five.
But then Jusef Nurkic would be upset. And you don’t want to get the Bosnian Bear angry.
While he hasn’t been the most reliable talent, Nurkic’s arrival unlocked the type of team that the Trail Blazers were supposed to be all year long. Other than Evan Turner, all of their players are movable, and as the Nurkic trade showed, Neil Olshey is still as good as they come. They’re not that far away from being really good.
With Terry Stotts running the show, fans should be excited for this year. They also should be prepared for the team to top out at 50 or so wins and a hard fought second round exit at best. The roster isn’t a contender yet, but it feels like there is a trade to made somewhere down the line.
Path to Glory: Figure out how to get something out of Evan Turner, and then package him with some of the young bigs to acquire a small forward that actually fits with the roster. Hope Nurkic develops into a borderline All Star, and pray that Lillard and McCollum spend seven games in heat check mode when they face the Warriors one of the next few years.