It may have been over 40 years since the last time the Portland Trail Blazers won an NBA championship, but the all-time-greatest list of Blazers is still quite impressive.
The Portland Trail Blazers have been a consistently good team throughout their 48-year history, making the playoffs 33 times.
After missing the postseason for six consecutive years immediately following franchise’s inception in 1970, the Trail Blazers have played playoff basketball in 33 of the last 42 seasons — an impressive streak for any franchise.
The issues have instead come once in the playoffs, being knocked out in the first round in 23 of those 33 appearances.
But despite the playoff struggles, there have been a host of good players that have suited up in Portland. We’re here to discuss the 30 best Trail Blazers players of all-time.
There will be some debate, no doubt, but here are the guidelines followed in this ranking:
- We only considered their years in a Blazers uniform. Scottie Pippen would rank higher on a Chicago Bulls list, of course.
- Injuries play a factor, albeit only to a certain extent. Bill Walton was probably at least the second-best player overall to play for the Blazers, but not being on the court enough hurts his stock.
- Team success and longevity matter, too. Some players were really good for a short amount of time on good teams, while others were solid over a longer stretches on both good and bad squads. Both can make it on to this list.
Without further ado, let’s get to it with No. 30.
- Played five seasons with Trail Blazers (1975-79)
- Averaged 13.9 points and 4.4 assists per game
- 1x All-Star and 1x NBA champion with Trail Blazers
Lionel Hollins was the No. 6 pick in the 1975 NBA draft by the Trail Blazers out of Arizona State University and immediately stepped into a key role, averaging 25.6 minutes per game as a rookie.
Hollins had mixed results, shooting just 42.1 percent from the floor that season and leading a team that went just 37-45, despite getting 58 games from Bill Walton and solid scoring seasons from Geoff Petrie and Sidney Wicks — all three of whom you’ll find on this countdown here shortly.
But Hollins steadily improved, putting up 14.7 points and 4.1 assist per game in his second season as a pro. He helped the Trail Blazers to 49 regular season wins and an NBA Finals win over the Philadelphia 76ers in 1977. Hollins boosted his own play, bumping his scoring average to 17.3 points per game in the playoffs, which was good enough for third on the team.
The following year, Hollins was named to his only All-Star team while contributing a career-high 15.9 points and 4.7 assists per game. The Trail Blazers had a stellar regular season, winning 58 games, but the season came crashing down in the playoffs with a first round loss to the the Seattle SuperSonics in just six games.
Hollins bounced around quite a bit in the later stages of his career, spending two-plus years with Philadelphia and one season each with the San Diego Clippers, the Detroit Pistons and the Houston Rockets.
Hollins was a key contributor to Portland’s lone title-winning squad, and the one-time All-Star has his No. 14 retired by the Trail Blazers. That’s enough to get him on to our list.
- Five seasons with Trail Blazers (2013-present)
- Averaging 17.2 points and 2.9 assists per game
- Shooting 40.8 percent on 3-point attempts
CJ McCollum has only played five years in the league, and his first two were absolutely nothing to write home about. Yet he still made it on to our list — even if it was only barely.
McCollum was the No. 10 pick of the 2013 NBA Draft as an undersized shooting guard out of a small school in Lehigh University. He didn’t play much as a rookie, appearing in just 38 games, and only played in 62 games with three starts in his second NBA season. However, he showed promise over those two years, knocking down threes at a 38.8 percent clip.
Year three was when McCollum made his move. He became a full-time starter and put up 20.8 points per game, while hitting on 41.7 percent of 3-pointers. The next year he became more efficient, bumping up his overall field goal percentage and getting to the free throw line with more regularity.
McCollum’s first year as a starter was the best season that the Blazers as a team have had in recent years. While they only won 44 regular season games under head coach Terry Stotts, the 2015-16 Trail Blazers upset the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in six games. Portland made it to the second round before losing in five games to the eventual Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors.
McCollum will only be 27 years old heading into the 2018-19 campaign. The sky is the limit for the potent shooting guard. If he stays in Portland a while longer, he’ll rise further up this list in short order.
- Played four seasons with Trail Blazers (1999-2003)
- Averaged 11.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and five assists per game
Scottie Pippen is known — and rightly so — for being Michael Jordan’s “sidekick” in Chicago for several years.
Of course, Pippen was much more than a sidekick. He was a seven-time All-Star for the Chicago Bulls and one of the best players in the league throughout that stretch, scoring more than 20 points per game four times in Chicago. Pippen was one of the league’s premier passers from the forward spot.
By the time he joined the Trail Blazers, Pippen was one year removed from his 12 seasons with the Bulls, having spent the 1998-99 campaign with the Houston Rockets, averaging 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. He was 34 years old, and would have been fair to wonder how much Pippen still had in the tank.
But all he did in Portland was help the Blazers win 59 games in his first year in Blazers black-and-red and help carry the squad to the Western Conference Finals. They were beaten in seven games by the Los Angeles Lakers squad that ultimately won three championships in a row.
Pippen spent three more years in Portland as a starter (when healthy) and was part of at least 49 wins in each of those seasons. He was a secondary playmaker and scorer behind young Rasheed Wallace, Bonzi Wells, and Damon Stoudamire. Pippen added an important edge and experience to the roster throughout his time as a Blazer.
He wound down his career with one final swan song in Chicago, playing 23 games for the Bulls in 2003-04 before retiring.
- Played five years with Trail Blazers (2010-15)
- Averaged 15.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game
- Shot 39.4 percent on 3-point attempts
One thing is for sure: Wesley Matthews will rank significantly higher than No. 27 on any list of the best undrafted players in the modern era.
Indeed, Matthews was somehow undrafted in 2009. While it was a talented and deep draft (Blake Griffin, James Harden, Ricky Rubio, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan were all top-10 picks. Six players that are still in the NBA today were second-round selections), there were still 10 players picked that never stepped on an NBA court in the regular season.
Matthews however, went undrafted. He signed with the Utah Jazz and appeared in all 82 games, shooting 38.2 percent on 3-point attempts.
As a restricted free agent, he signed with Portland the next summer where he almost immediately became a starter. By the end of his first year as a Blazers — remember, just his second in the NBA — the undrafted 24-year-old averaged 15.9 points per game, while knocking down 40.7 percent of his 3-point attempts.
The Trail Blazers went to the playoffs in just two of Matthews’ five years in Portland. However in 2013-14, they reached the second round and lost to the Golden State Warriors in five games. Matthews himself made only 30 of 89 3-point attempts — just a 33.7 percent clip.
He had some injury issues in 2014-15, his final year in Portland, and played in only 60 games. Matthews left for the Dallas Mavericks in free agency and has continued to be a solid NBA starter, albeit for a trio of mediocre-to-bad squads.
- Played seven seasons with Trail Blazers (2008-15)
- Averaged 11.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game
Nicolas Batum was traded from the Houston Rockets to Portland as part of a three-team trade with the Memphis Grizzlies on draft night in 2008. He was the No. 25 pick in the draft out of France and was thought to be a versatile wing with a considerable amount of scoring and playmaking upside.
His ranking here is more a nod to his relative consistency over a lengthy stay in Portland, as he has never quite managed to live up to his ceiling — or the massive contracts he has signed.
Following a solid first four years in the league that saw his scoring and rebounding averages climb each year, Batum signed a $46 million offer sheet with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Portland matched, and he was back with the Blazers for the next three seasons.
The Trail Blazers were in the playoffs in five of Batum’s seven seasons in Portland. In his final two years with the team, he certainly rose to the occasion in postseason play.
During the 2013-14 campaign that saw the Blazers beat the Los Angeles Clippers and advance to the second round, Batum put up 15.2 points per game while averaging 41.7 minutes per contest and helped his squad complete a first-round upset.
In 2014-15, his last in Portland, Batum scored 14.2 points per game over his five playoff appearances.
Batum was traded to the Charlotte Hornets in 2015 and signed a contract extension with the team in 2016. For a solid of a player as he was for seven years in Portland, he’s now an overpaid 30-year-old in Charlotte that hasn’t quite lived up to star expectations.
- Played seven seasons with Trail Blazers (1975-82)
- Averaged 9.2 points and 4.5 points per game
- 1x NBA champion for Trail Blazers
Bob Gross joined the Trail Blazers via the second round in 1975 — just the sixth season of the franchise’s existence. He joined a club that had yet to make the playoffs, but by his second year, things had changed in a hurry.
The Trail Blazers had improved their record to 38-44 the year prior to Gross’ addition, and they won 37 games with Gross as a rookie. Gross himself was a fringe rotation player, scoring 6.8 points in 19.4 minutes per game.
In 1976-77 however, Gross was on the court for 27.2 minutes per game and played in all 82 games. He also increased his scoring dramatically, averaging 11.4 points per game and chipping in with 4.8 rebounds per contest.
The Trail Blazers were led by Bill Walton, Maurice Lucas and Lionel Hollins, but Gross was an important cog in the machine as the fourth-leading scorer and the forward that slotted in between Hollins and Lucas on the wing.
Gross continued his strong play into the next season, averaging a career-high in points and rebounds at 12.7 and 5.6 per game, respectively. However, Walton only played in 58 games and the team stumbled to a first-round loss to the then Seattle SuperSonics in six games.
Gross played four more seasons in Portland as a regular starter, although the team only made the playoffs one more time, getting swept again in 1981. He headed down the coast to wrap up his career with a single season with the then San Diego Clippers before retiring.
- Played four seasons with Trail Blazers (1976-80)
- Averaged 9.5 points and 3.4 assists per game
- 1x NBA champion with Trail Blazers
Dave Twardzik, also known as Pinball, played four seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) with the Virginia Squires and made one All-Star team before heading to the NBA.
In 1976, Twardzik signed on in Portland just in time to be part of the Finals-winning squad at the end of the 1976-77 season. He played 26.2 minutes per game as the starting point guard on Dr. Jack Ramsey’s 49-win team that defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in the championship round.
Twardzik averaged 10.3 points and 3.3 assists per game that season, while shooting an incredible 61.2 percent from the floor. Of course, he only attempted 5.8 field goals per game — in fact, he only averaged more than six shots per game one time in his career, and never in the NBA — but anything over 60 percent is crazy, and especially for a guy who was only listed at 6-foot-1.
He didn’t need to score, of course. He was playing alongside Bill Walton, Maurice Lucas, Lionel Hollins and Bob Gross, so being able to run the point and distribute a bit was more than enough.
Twardzik was consistent, hovering between nine and 10 points and three and four assists per game over his four years in Portland, although the team never again sniffed the heights that the 1976-77 squad achieved.
Pinball retired after the 1979-80 season due to injury and almost immediately joined the coaching ranks, followed by a long career as a front office executive.
- Played four seasons with Trail Blazers (2000-04)
- Averaged 7.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game
Dale Davis turned in a 17-year career as an extremely solid post defender. He played at the right time, of course: the 1990s and early 2000s, in an era where 7-footers who could defend in the post and score just a little bit under the basket were always needed.
Davis played the first 10 years of his career with the Indiana Pacers, which he capped off by appearing in his first and only All-Star Game in 2000, his last year in Indianapolis. He was then traded to Portland as part of the move that brought Jermaine O’Neal to the Pacers.
Davis was acquired in part to help deal with the beast that was Shaquille O’Neal, as the Los Angeles Lakers had edged the Trail Blazers in seven games that spring. The Blazers were clearly looking for more big bodies to throw at Shaq in the paint.
While Arvydas Sabonis was still on the roster and playing well overall, he wasn’t exactly the ideal down low matchup for O’Neal, and certainly not for 40+ minutes a game.
The new acquisition stepped right in for a team that had won 59 games and played until Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Davis played well, averaging 7.2 pionts and 7.5 rebounds per game in 81 games.
The team was swept in the first round by the Lakers, however, and Los Angeles continued their romp through the Western Conference en route to their second of three consecutive NBA titles.
Davis played a total of four years in Portland before splitting the 2004-05 season between the Golden State Warriors, Indiana and finishing his career with two years on the Detroit Pistons.
- Played six seasons with Trail Blazers (2001-07)
- Averaged 16 points and 7.7 rebounds per game
Zach Randolph was the No. 19 pick of the 2001 NBA Draft out of Michigan State. He joined a playoff team that had been to the Western Conference Finals only two years prior. That meant that he played extremely limited minutes over 48 games as a rookie.
In his second year, he only played 16.9 minutes over 77 games, starting 11 games and averaging 8.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game overall on the season. But a breakout year was just around the corner.
In 2003-04, just his third year in the league, the 22-year-old “Z-Bo” put up 20.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest. However, the Trail Blazers finished with a 41-41 record and missed the playoffs.
It was the beginning of a four-year stretch for Randolph where he averaged 20.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 46.1 percent from the floor. The Trail Blazers as a whole had their worst stretch of losing seasons since the first few years of the franchise’s existence. They only won 41, 27, 21, and 32 games respectively before improving in 2007-08 — their first year without Randolph.
While Randolph was still in a less efficient part of his career and wasn’t surrounded with much talent, he improved his game after being traded to the New York Knicks and bouncing to the Los Angeles Clippers for half of a season. He spent eight years with the Memphis Grizzlies before playing the 2017-18 campaign with the Sacramento Kings as a 36-year-old.
If only the Trail Blazers had played better all-around basketball with Randolph on the roster. As it stands, the sheer numbers that Randolph put up over six seasons is enough to get him to No. 22 on our list.
- Played four seasons with Trail Blazers (1977-81)
- Averaged 13.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game
Tom Owens was always a consistent big man regardless of where he played — and he played a lot of places. 11 of them, if you want to include the ABA clubs he was on that didn’t always stay in one spot.
Owens spent five years in the ABA and didn’t join the NBA until the 1976-77 campaign when he played for the Houston Rockets. After missing out on the Trail Blazers’ title-winning team that year, he headed to Portland in 1977.
After averaging 10.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game over his five ABA and one NBA season to that point, Owens wasn’t expected to surprise too much when he joined the Trail Blazers towards the end of his prime.
Indeed, he only put up 10.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game as a 28-year-old in his first year in Portland, but broke out in year two, his age-29 season. In 1978-79, Owens averaged 18.5 points and nine rebounds per game, nearly doubling his career scoring average to that point. Then, he averaged 16.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game the next year.
After that, things slowed down a bit and Owens settled back into his typical career numbers. The Trail Blazers were always a fringe playoff team with Owens in the fold, making it each year but losing in the first round each time.
Owens rounded out his career with single seasons in Indiana in 1981-82 (10.5 points, 5.0 rebounds per game) and Detroit in 1982-83 (4.2 points, 3.8 rebounds per game). He retired at the age of 34.
His brief surge in the late ’70s was enough to get him to No. 21 on our list — but not quite enough to crack the top-20.
- Played five seasons with Trail Blazers (1980-84)
- Averaged 17.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game
Calvin Natt played a large role on a series of Trail Blazers squads that had solid regular seasons, but scuffled in the playoffs. (Stop me if you’ve heard that one before, Blazers fans.)
Natt was a 6-foot-6 small forward drafted eighth-overall by the then New Jersey Nets in 1980. However, he only played 53 games with the Nets before being shipped to Portland in exchange for Maurice Lucas (more on him later in the countdown).
Natt appeared 25 games as a rookie for Portland and averaged an impressive 20.4 points and 7.1 rebounds for a team that lost in the first round of the playoffs to the then Seattle SuperSonics. The next year, Natt only averaged 13.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, but bounced back in 1981-82 to the tune of 17.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest.
Only once did a Trail Blazers team with Natt on it advance past the first round. In 1983, they defeated Seattle before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the second round. Natt stepped up big, averaging 18.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in the seven playoff games that Portland played.
Surprisingly, Natt never made his way on to an All-Star team in his five years in Portland, although he made an All-Star appearance in 1984-85 with the Denver Nuggets, his first year away from the Blazers.
He played two full seasons in Denver before two injury-plagued campaigns. Sadly, Natt didn’t play in more than 27 games in a season over his final four years in the league.
- Played five seasons with Trail Blazers (1971-76)
- Averaged 22.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game
- 4x All-Star with Trail Blazers
Sidney Wicks just missed being an inaugural Trail Blazer, joining the team in 1971, one year after inception.
He was an All-Star from the get-go, being named to the squad as a 22-year-old rookie. Wicks averaged 24.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. He only shot 42.7 percent from the field, however. The Trail Blazers were awful, winning just 18 games that season.
In his second year in the NBA, Wicks put up 23.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, and a career-high 5.5 assists per game, improving his field goal percentage to 45.2. The team still only won 21 games. After Wicks and Geoff Petrie (24.9 points per game), only Lloyd Neal averaged in double-digits when it came to scoring.
Ultimately, Wicks averaged a double-double in three of his five years in Portland and his worst scoring season was his 19.1 points per game in his non-All-Star 1975-76 campaign.
The team never made the playoffs during Wicks’ time with the team and had a cumulative record of 141-269, a .344 winning percentage. Wicks was consistently one of the best two or three players on the team and carried the scoring while pitching in impressively on the glass.
Wicks went on to play two years to play two years with the Boston Celtics and three with the then San Diego Clippers before retiring after the 1980-81 season at the age of 31. As soon as he left Portland, his scoring numbers dropped and he became more of a complimentary player with the Celtics and Clippers.
But his 22.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game with the Trail Blazers are good enough to help Wicks crack our top-20.
- Played 5 seasons with the Trail Blazers (1992-96, 2001)
- Averaged 16.2 points and 8.2 assists per game
Rod Strickland was the No. 19 pick by the New York Knicks in 1988 and played parts of two seasons in the Big Apple before suiting up for the San Antonio Spurs for two-plus seasons. He was largely a solid backup although he began starting towards the end of his time in San Antonio.
But it was in Portland when “Hot Rod” broke out.
Strickland started nearly half of the Trail Blazers games in 1992-93, averaging 13.7 points and 7.2 assists per game. Then in 1993-94, Strickland appeared in all 82 games, starting 58 and putting up 17.2 points and nine assists per contest.
The first two years of Strickland in Portland were the final two years of Rick Adelman’s coaching stint with the Trail Blazers. However, both squads were solid teams that ultimately lost in the first round. Then in 1994-95, P.J. Carlesimo took over and the Trail Blazers won 44 games for two consecutive years, losing in the first round both times.
Strickland continued his trend upwards, ultimately scoring over 18 points per game in both the 1994-95 and 1995-96 campaigns before being shipped to the then Washington Bullets as part of the trade that brought Rasheed Wallace to the Pacific Northwest.
Strickland played four-plus seasons with the Bullets/Wizards before winding his career down with a whirlwind that included Portland (again), the Miami Heat, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Orlando Magic, the Toronto Raptors and the Houston Rockets.
His second tour of Portland lasted just 21 games late in the 2000-01 season. Strickland only played 16.7 minutes per game and was a modest contributor to a 50-win team that was swept by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
- Played eight seasons with Trail Blazers (1998-2005)
- Averaged 12.8 points and 5.7 assists per game
Damon Stoudamire was a 5-foot-10, left-handed point guard more affectionately known as “Mighty Mouse”.
Stoudamire came to Portland after an ultra-productive two-plus seasons with the Toronto Raptors, where he won the 1995-96 NBA Rookie of the Year award after averaging 19 points and 9.3 assists per game as a rookie. His 200 games in Toronto yielded impressive numbers: 19.8 points and 8.8 assists per game, although it came with a shooting percentage of just 41.5 percent.
“Mighty Mouse” was traded as part of a huge deal that sent three draft picks, including two first-rounders, from Portland to Toronto. Stoudamire came to Portland to join a team with sky-high expectations.
After the midseason trade, the Trail Blazers finished with 50 wins, but were swept in the first round of the playoffs. The 1998-99 campaign was cut to just 50 games due to the lockout, but the Blazers went 35-15 and went all the way the Western Conference Finals, where they were swept by the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs.
Stoudamire’s role shifted to that of a pass-first point guard in coach Mike Dunleavy’s offense. After scoring in bunches with the Raptors, Stoudamire never averaged more than 13.5 points per game over the course of a season with the Trail Blazers.
That said, he was a productive player and turned into a solid 3-point shooter, knocking down 35.9 percent of threes and hitting on 38.6 percent during the 2002-03 campaign.
Stoudamire spent the bulk of his career in Portland before heading to the Memphis Grizzlies for two-plus years and finishing up his playing career with 31 games in a Spurs uniform.
- Played five seasons with Trail Blazers (1976-80, 87-88)
- Averaged 15.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game
- 3-time All-Star and 1x NBA champion with Trail Blazers
Maurice Lucas, or Mo, played two seasons in the ABA before joining the Trail Blazers in 1976 as a 24-year-old. He had already made the All-Star team in the ABA the year prior, and made it four years in a row with three consecutive stellar years in Portland.
The 1976-77 season was a perfect storm of good things for the Trail Blazers. It was the one season that Bill Walton was healthy and played a full season at something close to full-strength. Plus, it was Dave Twardzik’s rookie year in the NBA after coming over from the ABA.
The duo of former ABAers in Lucas and Twardzik was huge ,as both men slotted into the starting lineup and were consistent performers for the Walton-led squad. Lucas averaged 20.2 points and a career-high 11.4 rebounds per game while shooting 46.6 percent from the floor as the leading scorer for the Trail Blazers.
He came up huge in the playoffs, putting up 21.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, as the Trail Blazers fought their way to the NBA Finals. They would beat the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers in six games.
Lucas played two-plus more seasons in Portland before being shipped to the then New Jersey Nets. He played a year-plus there, one year with the New York Knicks and three years with the Phoenix Suns before logging one year each with the Los Angeles Lakers and the then Seattle SuperSonics.
Then, he rounded out his career with a one-year swan-song in Portland, appearing in 73 games at the age of 35 and scoring 6.1 points in 16.3 minutes per contest.
- Played 7 seasons with Trail Blazers (1978-79, 1981-86)
- Averaged 16.7 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game
Kids these days may best know Mychal Thompson as the father of Klay Thompson. But that’s the No. 15 player in Trail Blazers history they’re talking about!
Thompson was the first-overall pick of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Trail Blazers (they had acquired the pick in a trade and were lucky enough to pick first after a 57-win season the year before) out of the University of Minnesota. The 6-foot-10 big man averaged 14.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and a whopping 1.8 blocks per game as a rookie.
After missing the entire 1979-80 season due to injury, Thompson came back with a vengeance in the fall of 1980. He averaged 17 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game that season, followed by 20.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game the following year.
Of course, the Trail Blazers didn’t have much around him and consistently won between 42 and 48 games in the regular season, only to be bounced early in the playoffs. In fact, over the course of seven seasons in Portland, Thompson only managed to play minutes in the second round of the playoffs twice, and never further than that.
After a dominant stretch in Portland — that, somewhat surprisingly, never led to an All-Star appearance — Thompson played 49 games with the San Antonio Spurs before finishing his career with four-plus seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Thompson was ultra-consistent, and one of the better players of the 1980s to never be named to an All-Star team. However, his son Klay has already been to four All-Star Games as a member of the Golden State Warriors and is still only 28 years old…
- Played five seasons with Trail Blazers (1984-88)
- Averaged 23.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game
Kiki Vandeweghe was born in Germany and played his college ball at UCLA prior to being drafted No. 11 by the Dallas Mavericks in 1980. However, he refused to play in Dallas and was eventually shipped to the Denver Nuggets in December of that year.
Vandeweghe was immediately a solid player, averaging double-digits in points as a rookie while appearing in 51 games. Then in his sophomore year in the NBA, his scoring average jumped to 21.5 points per game and he grabbed 5.6 rebounds per game to go along with it.
By his third year as a pro, Vandeweghe made the All-Star team, and then again the following year. He was traded to Portland in the summer following his second All-Star appearance.
Vandeweghe’s scoring ways didn’t stop, as he put up 20-plus points per game in each of his four full seasons with the Trail Blazers, including a 26.9 mark in 1986-87. And while he only attempted just over one 3-pointer per game, he led the league in long-range shooting that season at 48.1 percent.
Vandeweghe’s ancillary numbers plummeted in Portland. After averaging 5.3 rebounds per game in 293 games with the Nuggets, he averaged just 2.9 in 285 games with the Trail Blazers.
The Trail Blazers as a team went from mediocre to good during Vandeweghe’s time in Portland, winning 42, 40, 49, and 53 games over his four full seasons. The only time the team made it to the second round of the playoffs was in the 42-win season, so … go figure. Matchups are everything in the playoffs.
Vandeweghe went on to play three-plus seasons with the New York Knicks and one year with the Los Angeles Clippers before retiring in 1993 at the age of 34.
- Played eight seasons with Trail Blazers (1989-97)
- Averaged 16.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game
- 1x All-Star with Trail Blazers
Clifford Robinson, or Cliff, as he was lovingly known as, started his career with the Trail Blazers as a second-round draft pick in 1989.
He played in every single game as a rookie, averaging 19.1 minutes and 9.1 points per game. In year two, Robinson bumped his scoring average to 11.7 per game. In year three, another incremental bump to 12.4 points per game, as his playing time increased ever so slightly.
Over the course of Robinson’s first three years, the Trail Blazers lost in the NBA Finals twice and the Western Conference Finals once with coach Rick Adelman at the helm. The team was consistently good enough to do damage deep into the playoffs, but couldn’t quite get over that massive hump that is winning an NBA title.
In 1992-93, Robinson broke out in a big way, scoring 19.1 points per game and averaging 6.6 rebounds. He did most of his damage off the bench. Robinson didn’t become a regular starter until the following season, when he made his first and only All-Star team as a 27-year-old, while putting up 20.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
In the mid-1990s, the Blazers reverted to doing their thing: having an above-.500 regular season but falling in the first round of the playoffs. After the 1993-94 campaign, Adelman was replaced as head coach by P.J. Carlesimo, but things didn’t get any better.
The team won 44 games in the first year under Carlesimo, although Robinson’s per-game averaged continued to tick upwards slightly. After the 1996-97 campaign, Robinson signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Suns. He played four years in the desert before bouncing to the Detroit Pistons, the Golden State Warriors, and the then New Jersey Nets.
Robinson played until he was 40 years old and did not retire until after the 2006-07 season with the Nets.
- Played 11 seasons with Trail Blazers (1984-1995)
- Averaged 12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game
Jerome Kersey is the picture of longevity when it comes to what is an injury-riddled history for the Trail Blazers.
Kersey was drafted in the second round by the Trail Blazers in 1984. He spent 11 seasons with the team, appearing in 75 or more games in eight of those 11 campaigns. Kersey was a starter for the middle six of those seasons and a solid reserve for the other five.
Over the first two years of Kersey’s career he averaged under 15 minutes per game. Then in 1986-87, Kersey appeared in all 82 games and averaged double figures in scoring for the first time at 12.3 points per game.
The 1987-88 season was his first shot at starting full-time. Kersey made the most of his expanded by averaging 19.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest, while shooting 49.9 percent from the floor. This started a string of five seasons of high production for Kersey, as he averaged 16 points and eight rebounds per game from 1988 to 1992 for what were mostly very good Trail Blazers teams.
After Portland followed up a 53-win campaign in 1987-88 with a 39-win effort the following year, head coach Mike Schuler was replaced by Rick Adelman in 1989-90. The Trail Blazers promptly won 59 games and went the NBA Finals, where they were defeated in five by the Detroit Pistons.
Kersey continued with Portland through the 1994-95 season, although he shifted back into a bench role beginning in 1993. He was left unprotected in the 1995 expansion draft and was selected by the Toronto Raptors but was released before the season. He latched on with the Golden State Warriors, where he started 58 games, but only averaged 6.7 points per contest.
He finished his career bouncing from stop to stop, including the Los Angeles Lakers, the San Antonio Spurs, the then Seattle SuperSonics and finally the Milwaukee Bucks.
- Played 6 seasons with Trail Blazers (1970-76)
- Averaged 21.8 points and 4.6 assists per game
- 2x All-Star with Trail Blazers
We’ve found an original Trail Blazer! (Spoiler alert: he’s the only one on this list. Turns out it’s tough to find too many good players on an expansion team.)
Geoff Petrie was the Blazers’ first-round draft pick in 1970, eighth-overall. The 6-foot-4 guard from Princeton stepped in and was an All-Star immediately, averaging 24.8 points and 4.8 assists per game as a rookie for a 29-win squad. He was named NBA Co-Rookie of the Year along with Dave Cowens of the Boston Celtics.
The team won only 18 games the next season, and Petrie took a slight step backwards to 18.9 points per game, as the team added Sidney Wicks, who is No. 19 on this list.
In fact, Petrie’s career in Portland ran parallel to the longest playoff drought in Trail Blazers history, which was also the first six seasons of the franchise’s existence. The team did improve, eventually winning 27, 38, and 37 games over the final three years of that stretch, and Petrie continued to be solid.
Petrie held the Blazers single-game scoring record of 51 points until Damon Stoudamire (No. 17 on this list) broke it with a 54-point performance in 2005.
Petrie was traded to the Atlanta Hawks after the 1975-76 season, but suffered a career-ending injury. He never suited up for another squad. His number was retired by Portland and hangs in the rafters at Moda Center today.
- Played seven seasons with Trail Blazers (1989-96)
- Averaged 10.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game
Barely cracking our top-10 is Buck Williams, who played seven ultra-consistent seasons for the Trail Blazers in the early to mid-90s.
Williams played the first nine years of his NBA career with the then New Jersey Nets and was named to three All-Star teams. He averaged 16.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game before being traded to Portland in the Sam Bowie deal in the summer of 1989.
Williams was a starter for his first six years in Portland, but simply wasn’t relied on to score as he had been with the Nets. With the likes of Clyde Drexler (still to come on this list), Terry Porter (also still to come), Kevin Duckworth and Clifford Robinson (No. 13 on this list), Williams could settle into a role as a solid defender and a great last-ditch option on offense.
After all, if you have someone who had multiple 18-plus points-per-game scoring seasons as your fourth or fifth option on offense, then you probably have a pretty good offense.
Williams never averaged more than 13.6 points per game with the Trail Blazers, and he did that in his first year in Portland. He was already 29 years old, and the decline started quickly.
But even still, Williams was always a good defender and started nearly every single game. In fact, from 1989 through 1995, Williams only missed five games and started 405 out of 410 possible regular season games.
Williams was the model of consistency for some outstanding Trail Blazers teams before continuing to be his consistent self for some mediocre squads. All of that adds up to get him into the top-10 on our list.
- Played nine seasons with Trail Blazers (1979-87)
- Averaged 16 points and 3.2 assists per game
- 2x All-Star with Trail Blazers
Jim Paxson was the No. 12 pick in the 1979 NBA Draft by Portland. He only averaged 17.6 minutes per game on a 38-win team in 1979-80, but began to break-out in his second season as a pro.
In 1980-81, Paxson became a full-time starter and his scoring shot up to 17.1 points per game, as he shot an impressive 53.6 percent from the field. The Trail Blazers won 45 games and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
The next year, Paxson’s scoring rose again, this time to 18.9 points per game. The following two years saw Paxson clear 21 points per game and make the All-Star team during each campaign.
As for the Trail Blazers as a team, they couldn’t break out of their mid-40s win total funk, and never got further than the second round of postseason play with Paxson on the team. But over the course of his nine years in Portland, Paxson was a potent scorer and important to the success that the team did have.
Paxson was traded to the Boston Celtics during the 1987-88 season in exchange for Jerry Sichting in a one-for-one swap. While Paxson was able to advance well past the first round with the Celtics, he played a bit role off the bench and never was able to win a ring.
But a dominant decade in the 1980s is enough to get Paxson to No. 9 on our countdown.
- 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.
- Played seven seasons with Trail Blazers (1995-2001, 2002-03)
- Averaged 12 points and 7.3 rebounds per game
Arvydas Sabonis was already an international basketball legend when he arrived in the United States as a 31-year-old rookie for the 1995-96 campaign.
The 7-foot-3 Lithuanian was drafted in the first round by the Blazers way back in 1986 and had to wait nine full years before Sabonis was ready to come stateside. But when he was, it was absolutely worth the wait.
Outside of the 16 points and 10 rebounds per game that Sabonis averaged during the 1997-98 campaign, his numbers may not jump off the page at you, but don’t be fooled. Sabonis is one of the best-passing big men in the history of the game of basketball, as he dazzled NBA players, coaches and fans alike.
He was also capable of shooting 3-pointers. While he only shot from beyond the arc at a 32.8 percent clip in the NBA, he was pretty much the only 7-footer (or, 7-foot-3 player, in Sabonis’ case) that was willing to let it fly from deep. It consistently caught teams and their plodding traditional centers off-guard.
The Trail Blazers made the playoffs in each one of Sabonis’ seasons in the NBA but only advanced past the first round twice, making it to the Western Conference Finals in both 1998-99 and 1999-2000.
Sabonis retired after the 2000-01 season, but returned to play in 2002-03 in a bench role. He averaged 15.5 minutes per game and providing size and playmaking off the bench in that one final season with the Trail Blazers. His international dominance paved the way for Sabonis to enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
- Played nine seasons with Trail Blazers (2006-15)
- Averaged 19.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game
- 4x All-Star with Trail Blazers
LaMarcus Aldridge was drafted second overall out of the University of Texas by the Chicago Bulls in 2006. On draft night, the Bulls sent Aldridge to Portland in a trade that brought back Tyrus Thomas. Not a great trade for the Bulls, to say the least.
Aldridge went on to have an awesome career in a Trail Blazers uniform, of course, and that vaults him to No. 6 on our list.
Aldridge was mostly backup center as a rookie, averaging nine points in 22.2 minutes per game over 63 contests alongside fellow rookie and future NBA All-Star Brandon Roy. The team was bad, winning just 32 games under head coach Nate McMillan.
In Aldridge’s second year, he moved to the power forward spot and became a full-time starter, averaging 17.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. That started a stretch in which Aldridge was a consistent high-teens, low-20s per-game scorer with a solid post game and a sweet midrange shot.
But the dynamic plays and defense were missing just enough, combined with a stacked Western Conference, to ensure that Aldridge wouldn’t get named to an All-Star team until 2011-12. Then, he made four straight All-Star teams in Portland before he heading to the San Antonio Spurs, where he has been an All-Star twice in his three years there so far.
The Trail Blazers only advanced out of the first round one time in Aldridge’s reign as top Trail Blazer. That was in 2014, and Portland lost to the Spurs in five games in the Western Conference Semifinals.
- 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.
- Six seasons with Trail Blazers (2012-present)
- Averaging 23.1 points and 6.2 assists per game
- 3x All-Star with Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard entered the league as the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft out of tiny Weber State University. There was some question about how his game would transition to the NBA, but those questions were answered in short order.
Lillard immediately stepped in and dominated, averaging 19 and 6.5 assists per game as a rookie. The Trail Blazers went 33-49 while Lillard won NBA Rookie of the Year. However, the next year is when things came together quickly.
Lillard’s numbers grew to 20.7 points per game and 39.4 percent shooting from beyond the arc. As his efficiency improved, so did his team. Portland won 54 games and upset the No. 4 seed Houston Rockets in the first round of playoffs. If you don’t remember how it went down, here you go:
Portland went on to lose to the eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in the second round, but Lillard’s series-ending buzzer-beater is what everyone remembers from that season.
Lillard was named to another All-Star team in his third year as a pro as his per-game numbers grew across the board. His scoring numbers continued to rise — 25.1 points per game in 2015-16 and 27 points per game in 2016-17 — but Lillard didn’t make the All-Star team in either season.
However in 2017-18, Lillard made his third All-Star squad and All-NBA team, while the Trail Blazers won 49 games and landed the No. 3 seed. But in a devastating turn of events, they were swept by the sixth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs.
Lillard is still only 28 years old and at the peak of his game. He’ll be back, both in the playoffs and on the All-Star team. And he may only continue to rise up this prestigious list of all-time Trail Blazers.
- Played four seasons with Trail Blazers (1974-78)
- Averaged 17.1 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game
- 2x All-Star, 1x NBA champion with Trail Blazers
Bill Walton is arguably the saddest case of a generational talent being so chronically injured that he only managed a handful of All-Star appearances in his career.
Walton was the first overall pick in the 1974 NBA Draft by Portland. He only played in 35 games as a rookie, averaging 12.8 points and 12.6 rebounds per game, but added 4.8 assists and 2.7 blocks to his per-game ledger.
In his second year, he improved to 16.1 points and 13.4 rebounds per game. However, the team stagnated, dropping slightly from 38 wins in 1974-75 to 37 wins in 1975-76.
But 1976-77 was a magical campaign. Walton was named an All-Star for the first time as he dominated to the tune of 18.6 points, 14.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and a whopping 3.2 blocks per game. The rebounding and block averages were both tops in the NBA that year. The team not only improved, but won the whole thing. Portland defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals in six games.
Walton made one more All-Star team in Portland, averaging a career-high 18.9 points per game and a career-high five assists per game the following year. The Trail Blazers had an even better regular season than the year before with 58 wins, but lost in six games to the then Seattle SuperSonics in the first round of postseason play.
Walton sat out the next season due to injury before appearing in 14 games for the then San Diego Clippers in 1979-80. Then, two more years on the sidelines before three more with the Clippers.
Walton wrapped up his career with two seasons and one more ring with the Boston Celtics. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame following the conclusion of his career.
- Played 10 seasons with Trail Blazers (1985-95)
- Averaged 14.9 points and seven assists per game
- 2x All-Star with Trail Blazers
Let’s start with this: whether you believe it or not, Terry Porter‘s best two seasons in Portland rivaled Bill Walton’s All-Star campaigns with the Trail Blazers.
While part of the reason Porter lasted until No. 2 on this list is the combination of longevity and consistent production with the Trail Blazers, it would be foolish to overlook just how good Porter’s peak was in Portland.
Porter arrived as the No. 24 overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft and only played 15.4 minutes per game as a rookie. But he was a starter in year two and averaged 13.1 points and 8.9 assists per game. He wasn’t yet the sharpshooter that he turned into later on, but he was still an effective young player.
The 1988-89 season was Porter’s fourth in the league and head coach Mike Schuler’s last, as the team finished with just 39 wins. Porter had himself a nice season, however, averaging 17.7 points and 9.5 assists per game, while hitting on 36.1 percent of his 3-point attempts.
The next year, the Trail Blazers reached the NBA Finals on the strength of Clyde Drexler and Porter, with the latter scoring 17.6 points and pitching in 9.1 assists per gam. He improved his 3-point shooting again, making 37.4 percent of long-balls while launching three per game — a lot back at the start of the 1990s.
Porter averaged north of 18 points per game each of the next two seasons, as the Blazers continued to be contenders. They reached one more NBA Finals, but lost to Michael Jordan and the up-and-coming Chicago Bulls dynasty.
Porter wrapped up his time in Portland in 1994-95 as a 31-year-old backup before heading to the Minnesota Timberwolves for three years as a situational sharpshooter off the bench. (Believe it or not, Porter also earned a spot on the Timberwolves top-30 players list.) Porter then spent a year with the Miami Heat and three with the San Antonio Spurs before calling it quits at the age of 38 after the 2001-02 season.
- Played 12 seasons with Trail Blazers (1983-95)
- Averaged 20.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game
- 8x All-Star with Trail Blazers
Clyde Drexler entered the NBA as the 14th overall pick by the Trail Blazers in the 1983 NBA Draft. He started slowly as a bench player, averaging 17.2 minutes per game as a rookie and tallying 7.7 points per contest. The next year, he became a part-time starter and saw his per-game average rocket to 17.2 points per game.
Then, everything clicked in year three. The 1985-86 campaign saw “Clyde The Glide” put up 18.5 points per game on 47.5 percent shooting to go along with eight assists and 5.6 rebounds per game. Drexler made the first of 10 total appearances in the NBA All-Star Game that year as well.
Drexler started all 82 games the following season and averaged 21.7 points per game for a Portland team that won 49 games, but was not named to the All-Star team for some reason.
However, his true dominance began in 1987-88. That year he averaged 27 points per game, followed by 27.2 a game the next year. His per-game scoring average stayed north of 20 for six consecutive years, as he slowly but surely added a 3-point shot to his game. He did this while playing with a bit of a revolving cast around him.
The duo of Drexler and point guard Terry Porter led the Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals in 1988-89 and 1991-92 with a 63-win regular season sandwiched between. Portland lost the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in that middle year.
The Trail Blazers and Lakers were the powers of the Western Conference at the time, while the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons battled in the Eastern Conference. Drexler was the leader of a team that gave all three of those teams a run for their money year after year, although the Trail Blazers were never able to win an NBA championship for head coach Rick Adelman.
Drexler went on to play three-plus seasons for the Houston Rockets, was named to two more All-Star teams and won the 1995 title as crucial part of the Rockets squad.
Drexler, along with Arvydas Sabonis and Luke Walton, is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Of three, Drexler had the longest and most productive, impactful NBA career, and has earned his spot at No. 1 on the list of the 30 greatest Trail Blazers of all-time.