Matty Writes Sports

The Portland Trail Blazers have not made the playoffs since the 2020/21 season, when they lost in the First Round in a six game series against the Denver Nuggets, and since, the team has struggled to stay afloat in the Western Conference. Since then, the team has gone through multiple re-tools, initially around star point guard Damian Lillard, but now around a much younger point guard; Scoot Henderson.

Last September, the Blazers fully committed to the rebuild, sending Lillard to the Eastern Conference, where he became a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, even if it was well reported he would have prefeered to call Miami home, instead of Milwaukee. Either way, both parties got what they wanted; Dame found a new home on a contending Milwaukee team, whilst the Blazers discovered a fresh start, receiving Jrue Holiday and DeAndre Ayton in a three team trade that also included the Phoenix Suns. Holiday was swiftly dealt to Boston, however the rest of that trade stuck around in Rip City. Without Dame, the roster sunk to a 21 win season, the lowest win total since the 1970s (tied with a few other 21-61 seasons).

This was a pure rebuild, and the Blazers were given the 7th overall pick in the NBA Draft, falling all the way down from the 4th best odds. The Blazers have a new purpose, but maybe they want to accelerate the current rebuild….

Coaching:

Portland’s head coach since the 2021-2022 season has been Chauncey Billups, the 2004 Finals MVP. ‘Mr Big Shot’ as he had been known during his 17 Year NBA career, was hired after coach Terry Stotts had been fired in the 2021 Offseason. Billups has presided over 3 seasons so far, with the most wins he has attained during this period being in the 2022-23 season, where his Blazers side finished with a record of 31-51. Granted, this had not been helped by the fact that in 2021-22, Dame had a severe injury that sidelined him for most of the season, and losing second star CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans certainly didn’t help either.

However, Billups does have to seriously improve if he is to keep his coaching duties for the season. In the 3 seasons as a coach, Billups’ teams have always had a bottom 7 defense, that has led the Blazers to struggle over the course of all 3 seasons. Sure, they might be rebuilding, but having the 30th ranked defense in 2021-2022, 27th in 2022-23 and 23rd in 2023-24 doesn’t entirely display confidence for Blazers’ fans, and many had been calling for his head several times over the last few seasons. If the Blazers are to have any success, Billups may need to step up his game as a coach.

The Roster:

Portland’s roster is a weird one; filled with quality NBA Role Players, but without a distinguished star to be the leader that they need to move on and ascend up the incredibly competitive Western Conference Standings. 7th overall pick Donovan Clingan is a steady hand at center, and the backbone of two UCONN National Championship Winning teams is certainly nothing to scoff at. In addition, the Blazers acquired Deni Avdija from the Washington Wizards moving on from Malcolm Brogdon and sending Bub Carrington to the Wizards as well, but for the most part, the roster remains recognisable from the team that only won 21 games last term.

Deandre Ayton is the highest paid player on the roster, and, arguably the best player on the roster too. Ayton, the 1st overall pick out of Arizona in 2018 was dealt to the Blazers in 2023 and had a solid first season with the team, even if it did only lead to a limited number of wins. Other solid NBA players include high scoring Anfernee Simons, also a member of the 2018 Draft and Jerami Grant, who seems to be attracted to teams with a losing record at this point, considering his recent history with Portland and Detroit. Still, these are three, undeniably good NBA players, but none have that superstar edge that the Blazers so desperately need.

That edge may have to come in the form of 3rd year swingman Shaedon Sharpe and sophomore point guard Scoot Henderson. If Portland has any ambition of being a strong team this season, these two need to make the jump from exciting young player to near All Star. Shaedon has been very good fun in his first two seasons, however injuries have somewhat derailed his development, whilst Henderson, the 3rd overall pick in 2023 started slowly, but began to find his groove by the end of the year. The development of these two will be crucial to anything the Blazers do this year, as well as contributions from role players like Matisse Thybulle and Duop Reath, who both played at the Paris Olympics over the summer.

As good as some of these players are, the Blazers will likely suffer from a lack of true starpower, especially in a conference that is littered with them. Even the teams towards the bottom of the conference have cornerstones that outrank Portland’s own.

Season Outlook.

The Portland Trail Blazers are still in a rebuild; these rebuilds take time and, without a true number 1 prospect on the roster, the Blazers may not have the experience required to escape the NBA Basement.

Another season or two down at the bottom, and the Blazers may be able to escape and leapfrog some of their opponents. For now though, that’s where the Blazers remain.

My Prediction: 25-57 (15th in the West)