Portland Trail Blazers 2017: Look back in frustration and hope
The year was filled with disappointment for the Portland Trail Blazers. Are better times ahead?
For the Portland Trail Blazers, 2017 was the best of times and the worst of times.
Or, to be a little more precise, it was the worst of times, then the best of times – followed by the worst of times again.
It’s enough to make Rip City’s head spin like the Trail Blazers’ pinwheel logo.
Still, Portland showed in 2017 fleeting glimpses of the kind of team they can be, especially during one exhilarating stretch last March when they rampaged through the league like they owned it.
As I’ve argued before (and will no doubt argue again), the Trail Blazers will be successful moving forward if, and only if, Jusuf Nurkic plays to his potential. Otherwise, they’ll struggle, their search for a franchise center will continue, and head coach Terry Stotts will likely lose his job.
The Worst of Times
Setting the stage: December 2016 was a bad month for the Blazers. They had both a four-game losing streak and a six-game losing streak. They finished 4-11 overall and went 1-8 on the road.
And to top it all off, Damian Lillard rolled his ankle in a late-December loss to the San Antonio Spurs and left the arena in a walking boot. He would miss the next five games.
Thus, both the franchise and its franchise player limped into 2017.
Portland fared better in January, but they were still just 8-7. And it might have been worse were it not for CJ McCollum, who was on an absolute tear, averaging 31 points over the first seven games of 2017. This included a career-high 43 points in a New Year’s Day win over Minnesota.
February was brutal. The Trail Blazers went just 2-7.
But there was something positive brewing, starting right around Valentine’s Day, when Portland acquired Nurkic from the Denver Nuggets.
In his first game – a Feb. 15 loss to the Utah Jazz – Nurkic went 5/5 from the field, scoring 13 points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. He even led the team in steals with three.
After the All Star break, and in his second game (first start) with the Trail Blazers, the “Beast” was even more effective. In a win against the Orlando Magic, Nurkic finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks.
In Portland’s final February tilt, an overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons, Nurkic had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
“Nurkic Fever” had begun, but it hadn’t reached peak Nurk yet.
That would come in March.
The Best of Times
The Trail Blazers were sitting ugly at 24-35 and 10th in the Western Conference when March rolled in.
And suddenly the Blazers were world beaters.
Portland was spectacular in March, going 13-4 overall, including winning streaks of three, four and five games.
The Trail Blazers were even beating playoff teams, including the Thunder (twice), the Spurs and the Rockets.
In a Mar. 9 overtime win against the Sixers, Nurkic did something that no player had done since Charles Barkley in 1986: He amassed 28 points, 20 rebounds, eight assists and six blocked shots.
But perhaps the biggest splash came on March 28 against the Denver Nuggets at the Moda Center. It was this game more than any other which set the expectations for the 2017-2018 season.
Nurkic was dominant, scoring 33 points on 12/15 shooting, grabbing 15 rebounds, blocking two shots and hitting 9/11 free throws.
After the game, which essentially secured a playoff spot for the Trail Blazers while knocking the Nuggets out of contention, Nurkic wished his former team a “happy summer.”
Rip City had reached peak Nurk.
Impact and Expectations
Prior to Nurkic’s arrival in Portland, the Trail Blazers were a woeful 23-32. But they finished the season strong, going 18-9 the rest of the way (14-6 with Nurkic in the lineup).
Had the Trail Blazers finally found their center of the future? It certainly seemed that way. Nurkic resurrected the Blazers’ season and helped catapult them into the playoffs, averaging 15.2 points 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.3 steals per game in 20 games.
And although Nurkic would miss the team’s final seven games with a fractured right leg and Portland would get swept out of the playoffs by the Warriors in the first round, the future looked bright.
The Worst of Times (Again)
Unfortunately, 2017 ends with the Blazers playing much like they did at the beginning. Mired in maddening mediocrity, hovering near .500, and still searching for an elusive third playmaker to take the pressure of Lillard and McCollum.
Lillard is hurting. Nurkic has been inconsistent. Evan Turner and Maurice Harkless have been abysmal. Meyers Leonard has been, well, Meyers Leonard.
In the meantime, Trail Blazers fans grow restless, and owner Paul Allen seeks answers to questions Rip City has asked for months: How did we get here? And where are we going?
Next: Winter isn't the most wonderful time of the year for the Blazers
A Happy New Year?
Still – as is always the case with these Trail Blazers – there are reasons for optimism. The defense is solid. Zach Collins is going to be good – perhaps very good. Harkless is showing signs of life. Shabazz Napier is a playmaker, one of the best back-up point guards in the league.
And when it all comes together, it can be a beautiful thing, as we saw in Portland’s thrilling come-from-behind victory against the Sixers on Thursday. (And that was without Lillard in the lineup.)
Next: Should the Blazers have traded Evan Turner instead of Allen Crabbe?
As they head into 2018, the Trail Blazers are still looking for the magic they had last March.
Nurkic is the key to that magic. It was the relatively quiet signing of the 7-foot “Bosnian Beast” and his tremendous play that really jacked up expectations.
The Trail Blazers’ future looked exceedingly bright last spring. That’s why the present, by contrast, often looks so dim.