10. Portland Trail Blazers
Key additions: Seth Curry (FA)
Key losses: Ed Davis (FA), Shabazz Napier (FA)
PORTLAND IS STUCK IN what I like to call NBA purgatory.
No cap room? Check.
No young building blocks? Check.
Good enough to make the playoffs but not bad enough for a high draft pick? Check.
They are trying to contend but don’t have the dogs to do so. A 3-seed last year, just three games separated the Blazers from 9-seeded Denver, and they were much healthier than any of the teams in-between. Their lack of creation outside of their starting backcourt was exposed in the playoffs, and I am expecting some upcoming regression.
Moving forward, coach Terry Stotts and company should focus on doing whatever it takes to keep star point guard Damian Lillard happy. Coming off a career year that saw him finish fourth in MVP voting and make first team All-NBA, Lillard is in the middle of his prime at age 28 and is one of the league’s fiercest competitors. He is assuredly looking to contend for championships every year. This has led some to believe a series of questionable tweets was his way of voicing his displeasure over playing in Portland.
ESPN‘s Stephen A. Smith even reported in early July that Dame would welcome a trade to the Lakers or Knicks. A few days later Lillard said he’s happy where he is, but this should be taken with a grain of salt in the age of player mobility. Although under contract until 2021, Lillard could easily decide he’d rather play for a contender and force his way out of town, similar to Kawhi Leonard or Paul George.
Unfortunately, the Blazers don’t have many great parts outside of Lillard and sniper C.J. McCollum, who combine to make up one of the league’s most explosive backcourts. Center Jusuf Nurkic feels like a classic good stats/bad team guy and would probably be best served in a sixth man role (think Enes Kanter in OKC). Al-Farouq Aminu is an average 3 & D wing at best. Rounding out the core, Evan Turner, Mo Harkless, and Meyers Leonard combined to make just under $35 million in 2018 while scoring 1,146 points.
Portland somehow paid about $30,000 per point last year from this iconic trio. They will make another $40 million in 2019. It’s like Neil Oshey fell for an email scam when he drew up these contracts.
They annually crush regular season expectations but I just don’t see it with this Blazers core. Their peak is the second round, clear as day after the Warriors made quick work of them in 2016/2017 and New Orleans embarrassed them in a four game sweep last year. Awful contracts, an uber-talented league, and being located in northern Oregon have brought Portland to this point, and they would probably be better served to blow things up. They have serious flame out potential heading into 2019.
Trail Blazers projected record: 41-41
Trail Blazers chances of beating the Warriors in a series: 1 percent