Vegas season wins line for 2018-2019 makes Blazers underdogs again

The Portland Trail Blazers have gone against the Las Vegas season wins line for the past three seasons. With an over/under at 41.5 wins for 2018-2019, hopefully they continue the trend and outperform expectations.

The final buzzer of Game 5 in the 2015 NBA playoffs ended an era for the Portland Trail Blazers.

LaMarcus Aldridge signed with the San Antonio Spurs, spurring Wesley Matthews to sign with the Dallas Mavericks and Robin Lopez to sign with the New York Knicks. The Blazers also traded Nicolas Batum to the Charlotte Hornets for Noah Vonleh and Gerald Henderson, neither of whom are still on the roster.

Damian Lillard was the only starter to stay heading into the 2015-2016 season. He and CJ McCollum – two young, offensively talented guards – were left to lead a team full of new faces. They had big shoes to fill – the Blazers had won 51 games and earned the fourth seed the season before.

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook justifiably had no faith in the new Portland roster. They put the over/under for the Blazers win total at 26.5. Only two teams had a lower over/under – the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Philadelphia lived up to its league-worst over/under prediction by winning ten total games in 2015-2016. Minnesota cleared its Vegas mark by winning 29 games.

Portland, on the other hand, crushed the SuperBook’s prediction. The team of misfits won 44 games and earned the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Lillard and company didn’t stop there – they advanced to the second round of the playoffs after beating the Los Angeles Clippers in six games.

The following season, Vegas adjusted its odds by putting the Blazers over/under at 46.5 wins. They failed to live up to the 20-win increase and finished eighth in the West with a 41-41 record.

Trying to finally nail down Portland’s season-wide inconsistency, Vegas set an over/under of 42.5 wins for 2017-2018. The Blazers again went the opposite direction, winning 49 games and placing third in the stacked Western Conference.

Vegas continues the pattern of fluctuating over/under marks for 2018-2019. Due to Portland’s lack of improvement this offseason and the Western Conference’s increased level of competitiveness, the Blazers over/under is at 41.5 wins.

Nine other teams in the West received a higher over/under mark, meaning Vegas predicts Portland to be out of the playoffs next season.

CJ McCollum knows what he and Damian Lillard need to do.

Jusuf Nurkic, on the other hand, is letting Vegas know how he feels about the over/under line.

Safe to say the Blazers players consider themselves underdogs again. From the past two low Vegas wins line, Portland is set for a surprise season.

Continuing the up-and-down trend will be harder this year – there’s no denying the elevated level of competition in the West.

From what Lillard did with a new team in 2015-2016, we can assume that he’ll turn the summer signings and rookies into a cohesive unit in no time. Hopefully losing three rotation players for unproven talent benefits Portland in its new three-point shooting system.