NBA: 6 biggest surprises and disappointments in 2019-20 thus far

The Portland Trail Blazers – Desperate times and desperate measures

It’s never good to see a team that just made an impressive run to the western finals last season start with a measly 5-9 record, especially with the transactions this team made in free agency. The Portland Trail Blazers shocked the world last postseason by proving that they aren’t just a regular-season team.

So far this season they’ve shown that they might not be a regular-season team either let alone a postseason contender. Damian Lillard does what Damian Lillard does. The All-NBA “Poing God” as people like to call him is entering his 8th year in the league playing phenomenally, but his team’s current standing just goes to show its a team sport.

The Trail Blazers seem to have underestimated how much of an impact it was to their team losing two of their starters to free agency. Forwards Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu parted ways with Portland leaving a marginally large hole, especially on defense. Both players weren’t the stars of the Blazers, but they were important role players whose roles don’t seem to be completely filled with the new starters of Rodney Hood and recently injured Zach Collins.

This lackluster start of the season appeared to have pushed Portland to make unexpected moves such as signing long-time free agent Carmelo Anthony. Anthony is a fan favorite in the NBA but nowhere near the All-Star he once was. Thinking this move will change much for this Blazers team would be quite irrational.