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Possible Portland Trail Blazers Lineups

By Shawn P. O’Connor

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 30: Portland Trail Blazers Guard Damian Lillard (0), Portland Trail Blazers Center Jusuf Nurkic (27) and Portland Trail Blazers Forward Al-Farouq Aminu (8) look on during an NBA game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers on January 30, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 30: Portland Trail Blazers Guard Damian Lillard (0), Portland Trail Blazers Center Jusuf Nurkic (27) and Portland Trail Blazers Forward Al-Farouq Aminu (8) look on during an NBA game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers on January 30, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Portland Trail Blazers’ season opener is less than a month away. What will the opening day lineup look like?

The Trail Blazers host the Los Angeles Lakers on October 18th. After a turbulent offseason, there are a few question marks as to the starting lineup for Portland. Here are a few options.

Most Likely

PG: Damian Lillard, SG: CJ McCollum, SF: Evan Turner, PF: Al-Farouq Aminu, C: Jusuf Nurkic

This lineup was the most common starting lineup last season. This group accounted for 80.1 points per game, the highest average of any five players on the roster. The Big 3 are featured prominently in this lineup, with Nurkic playing the role of rim protector while Lillard and CJ run one of the league’s highest flying backcourts. This is by far the most likely starting lineup to start the season.

Moe joins the Starting Five

PG: Damian Lillard, SG: CJ McCollum, SF: Maurice Harkless, PF: Al-Farouq Aminu, C: Jusuf Nurkic

This lineup is also likely to hit the floor to start the 2018 season. Moe Harkless started 36 games at small forward for Portland last season, 6.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in 21.4 minute per game. At 6-9, Moe has a size advantage over the smaller Evan Turner, providing a defensive advantage for the Blazers.

Small Ball

G: Damian Lillard, G: Seth Curry, G: CJ McCollum, PF: Al-Farouq Aminu, C: Jusuf Nurkic

This lineup plays to the strengths of this roster. By playing Damian, CJ, and Curry in the same roster, the Blazers blitz the floor with their best three point shooting guards, along with a capable shooter in Aminu and a rim protector in Nurkic. Playing three guards would limit Portland’s defensive capabilities, however. Despite this limitation, this lineup has the potential to outscore any lineup in the league.

The Five Best Players

PG: Damian Lillard, SG: CJ McCollum, SF: Al-Farouq Aminu, PF: Zach Collins, C: Jusuf Nurkic

This roster features the best five players on Portland’s roster, all on the floor together. As always, Dame, CJ, and Jusuf anchor the lineup. In this look, however, Zach Collins starts for the team, along with Aminu. Adding Collins and Aminu to the lineup provide a huge boost in defense, allowing Portland to survive any scoring droughts the team may encounter this season. This lineup is unlikely, as Zach primarily plays at the center spot, but these five players playing at the same time would change the look of the Blazers, and change their identity to a more defensive team.

Next. Will Zach Collins break out this season?. dark

Portland has a multitude of options of who to start this season. Despite the more appealing options, I expect Terry Stotts to start the season out conservatively and start with the most common lineup from last season.