Portland Trail Blazers: 30 greatest players in franchise history
By Ben Beecken
- Played eight seasons with Trail Blazers (1996-04)
- Averaged 16.8 points and seven rebounds per game
- 2x All-Star with Trail Blazers
Rasheed Wallace wasn’t drafted by Portland, even if it feels like he should have been.
Wallace was actually picked fourth overall by the then Washington Bullets in 1995. After a decent rookie season, he was sent west to Portland in a trade that brought back guard Rod Strickland, who was No. 18 on this list.
Wallace immediately improved, averaging 15.1 points per game in his second year in the league for a 49-win Trail Blazers squad that lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Wallace steadily improved, blossoming into a true star during the 1999-2000 season as a 25-year-old. It was the first of back-to-back All-Star seasons, and combined between the two campaigns Wallace averaged 17.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
The Western Conference was stacked with hall of fame caliber big men during Wallace’s time in Portland, including Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal. It was never easy for Wallace, whether it was competing nightly in the rough-and-tumble West or in trying to make it to the All-Star Game each year.
Wallace’s on-court temper got in the way of people noticing just how good he was at times. Frankly, he was more well-known for his record-breaking number of technical fouls than his All-Star level play in the Portland front court. While it seemed as though Wallace was breaking his own record year after year, he was still an outstanding player for what was mostly a good Trail Blazers team.
Wallace was good enough for long enough to make it into the top-five on this list.