GM: Neil Olshey
Head coach: Terry Stotts
2016-17 record: 41-41 (8th in the Western Conference)
2016-17 result: Lost 4-0 in the West’s first round
Key departures: Allen Crabbe
Key acquisitions: Zach Collins
The Portland Trail Blazers took a much more modest approach this off-season, with their only moves coming in the form of drafting Gonzaga’s Zach Collins in the lottery and a trade that sent Allen Crabbe to Brooklyn.
The deal with the Nets helped erase some of poor rationale behind the previous summer, when Portland invested $226 million into Crabbe, Maurice Harkless, Meyers Leonard and Evan Turner. That doesn’t even include the $106 million contract extension they reached with C.J. McCollum, their one truly respectable move.
This summer Portland’s front office sat back, knowing they formed an unguardable trio when they brought in a disgruntled Jusuf Nurkic at the trade deadline. The move turned the season around, and allowed them to take a deep breath.
The Trail Blazers won’t be able to relax for long, however, with the rest of the West getting better over the summer. The Timberwolves added Jimmy Butler, the Pelicans have a full season with a combo of DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, while the Lakers seem to be everyone’s favourite underdog. Not to forget, the Nuggets probably want revenge after shooting themselves in the foot by trading Nurkic in the first place — which took away Denver’s chance at the eighth seed.
Heading into 2017-18, Damian Lillard is expected to continue playing with a chip on his shoulder. Despite averaging a career-high 27 points a game, Lillard didn’t make the 2017 all-star team or an All-NBA team. Individual accolades shouldn’t matter, but as for the team, this season could finally be the time when the Blazers get their respect.
Potential Breakout Player
Jusuf Nurkic became the most influential member of Portland’s second-half resurgence, with the team going 14-6 in the games he played on the way to the post-season. The Bosnian Beast averaged a double-double of 15.2 points on 50.8 per cent shooting along with 10.4 boards, 3.2 assists and 1.9 blocks before suffering a broken leg.
Now heading into a contract year, Nurkic will have a chance to prove that last year’s 20-game stretch wasn’t a fluke. The only thing that could stop him would be his health, but during the pre-season there hasn’t been any mention of the injury that cut his 2016-17 season short.
At 23 years old, Nurkic’s blend of toughness and unteachable court vision makes him extremely valuable, even without having the range that is now being asked of from the modern NBA big. Without the worry of having someone like Nikola Jokic take his spot in the lineup like in Denver, Nurkic Fever should continue to spread all across Portland, and the NBA.
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What a successful 2017-18 season would look like
If the Trail Blazers want a successful season they need to distance themselves from the idea that they’re just a fringe playoff team. Portland will be going after their fifth straight post-season appearance in 2017-18, but there a handful of teams in the Pelicans, Timberwolves, Nuggets and even the Lakers that will be going after Portland’s spot as the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Portland was in and out of the playoff picture for the entirety of the 2016-17 season, until Nurkic was brought in to provide an extra spark. This year, they can’t have the same slow start they had last season, when they went 15-21 by the time the New Year came around.
Considering their track record, Portland should be in a position where they’re judged by what they do in the playoffs. But with such a young roster that at times still seems unproven, they’ll have to fight once again to earn everyone’s respect as a team that is in fact better than the lower half of the Western Conference.
Biggest X-Factor
If the Portland Trail Blazers want to make the jump from being a fringe playoff contender each year, they’ll need to up their defence. In 2016-17, their starters posted a 108.3 defensive rating, the worst of any team to make it to the post-season.
Their two guards in Lillard and McCollum are average defenders on their best days, which is a problem considering how many great guards are currently in the West. With some added production from Nurkic in the starting five, it might be time that they consider bringing McCollum off the bench as a sixth man in favour of a more defensive-minded presence like Turner.
McCollum is a fringe all-star, who could start on any team in the league. But the Trail Blazers’ bench was also last in scoring among all Western Conference teams to make it to the playoffs. If they want to go to the next level, they’ll need to distribute the wealth to fill some of their biggest holes.
