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Why the Portland Trail Blazers won the Summer League Championship

By Nate Mann

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 17: The Portland Trail Blazers receive the Summer League Championship Trophy after winning the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League Championship game against the Los Angeles Lakers on July 17, 2018 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 17: The Portland Trail Blazers receive the Summer League Championship Trophy after winning the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League Championship game against the Los Angeles Lakers on July 17, 2018 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Portland Trail Blazers won the 2018 Summer League Championship Tuesday night by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in a rematch of last year’s finals.

For the first time since 1977, the Portland Trail Blazers have a championship banner to hang. Or at least a championship to cherish (there won’t be a banner unfortunately).

While the Summer League Championship means nothing itself, it provides Blazers fans with a sense of hope in their young players. Portland fielded a majority of the reserve unit in Summer League, and their cohesive play foreshadows solid production off the bench.

Team Play

So many Summer League teams are full of individuals trying to prove themselves and earn a contract.

Under the leadership of Wade Baldwin IV and coaching of Jim Moran, the Blazers played as one unit. The players became a part of the system and showed their willingness to learn and contribute to winning without lighting up the box score.

Take Zach Collins. In his second Summer League appearance, we expected him to dominate the field. He now had NBA experience and a much bulkier frame compared to last summer.

Related Story: Zach Collins not dominating Summer League as hoped

But Collins only averaged 8.2 shot attempts and 8.0 points per game. With the mask affecting his vision and his teammates making it rain from outside, Collins took a step back and focused on supplying the team’s interior defense.

The Blazers’ team attitude was most evident at the brief award ceremony on Tuesday. KJ McDaniels, a guy who played 14.9 minutes per game and averaged 6.7 points, won the Summer League Championship MVP after his 17-point outing against the Lakers.

McDaniels’ teammates swarmed him as he was handed the trophy. No one cared about not winning MVP to bolster their résumé for the Blazers staff; they were more interested in winning as a team.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1019439734672814081

Three-point shooting

Neil Olshey wants the regular season Blazers to focus more on three-point shooting, so he did a test run with the reserve unit in Summer League.

In seven games, Portland shot a total of 151 three-pointers. They made 61 of those for a 40.4% conversion rate. The Golden State Warriors led the league in 2017-2018 by hitting 39.8% of their three-point shots.

If Summer League games were 48 minutes, the Blazers would have attempted 25.9 threes per contest. Last season, the actual Blazers roster took 28.1 threes and made 36.6% of them.

The team therefore may not shoot more threes, but they’ll make a significantly higher percentage.

Defense

The Blazers held their opponents to 78.4 points per game in Summer League. Translated to a 48-minute game, they gave up 94.1 points per game. In 2017-2018, the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz led the league by allowing 99.8 points per 48 minutes.

Zach Collins led the interior defense. In his six games, he blocked a grand total of 16 shots (2.7 per). He ranked No. 8 in all of Summer League for blocks.

Wade Baldwin led the perimeter defense. In the preliminary matchups, he averaged 2.3 steals per game. That number dropped to 1.1 in tournament play, but his lengthy defense annoyed every opposing guard each time down the floor.

Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent Jr. also showed a knack for cutting passing lanes. They averaged 1.0 and 1.3 steals, respectively.

Roster

For all the LA Lakers out there, this section is for you. Yes, the Blazers had nine players with NBA experience on its team. Five of them were on Portland’s roster last season as well.

Having so much NBA experience and playing time together helped make this team a cohesive group. They knew how Jim Moran wanted his offense and defense run, plus they knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Still, new faces like Trent Jr. and Simons contributed to the championship in a big way.

Next: Who's better for the Blazers, Seth Curry or Shabazz Napier?

If the NBA Championship isn’t up for grabs (thanks Warriors), then the Blazers might as well win one of two other championships offered while developing its young players set to come off the bench.

There’s also the NBA 2K championship available, and Blazer5 Gaming is ranked first in that too.