NBA: 5 most disappointing teams midway through the 2021-22 season

Portland Trail Blazers

It’s time for the Portland Trail Blazers to blow it up. Despite being the final team in the play-in tournament  — at the moment — Portland is eight games below .500 with a record of 16-24. After making the playoffs for eight straight seasons, the longest active streak in the NBA, it’s looking like that streak will come to an end.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has reported that Damian Lillard plans to have surgery to address lingering abdominal issues. The surgery is not expected to end Lillard’s season, but an extended absence without their best player could propel Portland to the lottery, and at that point, why would Lillard return this season?

Back-to-back victories over the Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets without Lillard and CJ McCollum have gotten Portland to the 10th seed. Yet, they are closer to the second to last place Oklahoma City Thunder (three games ahead) than the ninth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves (four and a half games behind).

These next few weeks will determine the direction the franchise decides to go at the trade deadline. With Robert Covington and Jusuf Nurkic set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer, the Blazers would benefit from looking to deal them before the deadline.

The most important thing for Portland though is ensuring the health of Dame. Although he’s still been an effective player this season, he hasn’t been the same player he was in seasons past.

Kevin Pelton of ESPN points out that:

"“During 2019-20 and 2020-21, Lillard managed true shooting percentages an average of 10% better than league average, according to Basketball-Reference, remarkable given the heavy load he was carrying on offense. (Lillard finished more than 30% of the team’s plays with a shot, a trip to the free-throw line, or a turnover both seasons.) So far in 2021-22, Lillard’s efficiency had been slightly worse than the NBA average — the first time in his career that’s been the case.”"

Additionally, Peloton points out that:

"“[Lillard’s] 32% 3-point shooting — on the heels of 40% and 39% accuracy the past two seasons — was a career-low. According to Second Spectrum tracking, Lillard was making just 24% of his attempts beyond 30 feet, down from 33% in 2019-20 and 2020-21 combined.”"

With that being said, now that Lillard is gone getting surgery, it will be up to Portland’s supporting cast to make the playoffs. As mentioned before though, it might be in the front office’s best interest to unload their veterans to contenders for a more promising future. But, how the Blazers perform over the next few weeks will determine if they become buyers or sellers at the deadline.