Portland Trail Blazers: 30 greatest players in franchise history

• Played five years with Trail Blazers (2006-11)
• Averaged 19 points and 4.7 assists per game
• 3x All-Star with Trail Blazers

Ah, what could have been.

Brandon Roy only played five years in the NBA (not including his five-game comeback with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2012-13), and he still made it to No. 8 on a pretty stacked list. That tells you just how good he was, and just how high he may have risen had it not been for chronic knee issues.

Roy was drafted sixth overall by Minnesota in 2006, but was shipped to Portland on draft night for Randy Foye. Roy was sensational as a rookie, averaging 16.8 points per game and shooting 37.7 percent on 3-point attempts and winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award.

The Trail Blazers only won 32 games that year, but improved to 42-42 the following seasons. Roy made the first of three consecutive All-Star Games in 2006-07, while averaging 19.1 points, 5.8 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game.

The following year, Portland was a 54-win team, but was upset by the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets in six games in the first round of the playoffs. Roy made his first All-NBA team while putting up a career-high 22.6 points per game.

Roy had one more All-Star season in him, but it also ended in the first round of the playoffs. He only appeared in three of the six playoff games due to injury. He had only played 65 of 82 regular season games, and things were beginning to look bleak for him.

In 2010-11, Roy was only saw the floor in 47 contests, averaging 12.2 points per game and looking like a shell of his former dynamic self. After a medical retirement, Roy attempted a comeback with a Rick Adelman’s Minnesota team in 2012-13 but had to re-retire after just five games.

While Roy was still one of the eight best players in Trail Blazers history, he could have been much higher — on this list and on the all-time NBA players list — had his knees not betrayed him.