Zach Lowe ranks Portland Trail Blazers 12th in League Pass watchability

Zach Lowe recently published his NBA League Pass watchability rankings. The Portland Trail Blazers landed at number 12, and this feels safe. Too safe.

Zach Lowe makes this very clear: his seventh annual NBA League Pass rankings are not  power rankings. Instead, with this column, he tries to quantify each NBA team’s watchability on any given night of the season. The Portland Trail Blazers ranked 12th, between the Washington Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans (thwarted once again by the Pelicans – when will the misery end?)

Lowe grades teams in five categories: zeitgeist, highlight probability, style, league pass minutia, and unintentional comedy.

Portland’s placement on the list appears most contingent on Damian Lillard‘s and CJ McCollum‘s brilliance as a backcourt, always primed for big plays and stretches where no one can guard them:

"“Damian Lillard transforms into fire incarnate for at least one two-week period every season. C.J. McCollum is one of the league’s slipperiest ball-handlers, with an endless arsenal of floaters and pull-ups.”"

He also mentions that their response to their First Round sweep to those darn New Orleans Birds adds some extra intrigue:

"“It will be fascinating to see how Portland responds to last season’s first-round obliteration. The Blazers are saying all the right things, but that was not a normal sweep. That was the kind of sweep that can expose every underlying tension.”"

However, a number 12 ranking seems too safe.

Based off no scientific evidence, one of two things are going to happen with the Blazers:

First reality: All of the summer predictions about them falling out of the playoff picture and winning 39 games come true. The offense lacks ball movement, Jusuf Nurkic regresses, Zach Collins is a dud, and Dame and CJ cannot do enough on their own to carry them. Oh, also, Evan Turner probably gets way too many post-up opportunities.

In this scenario, the Blazers are certainly below 12th. They probably rank in the upper teens.

But a totally different reality could occur – the reality that I cross my fingers and say a prayer for each night.

Second reality: The Blazers come out the gate moving the ball in a fluid offense that sees guys like Seth Curry, Meyers Leonard, and Collins really come alive. They become a fast-paced, well-oiled machine that’s either finding open finishers on cuts or wide open threes for their newly acquired snipers. Either one of Dame or CJ is always on the court to keep things from ever getting stagnant. And they make people regret wasting all their breath for saying Portland’s third-seed was a fluke.

In this much rosier scenario, the Blazers are in the top ten – ousting groups like the sixth ranked Chicago Bulls (who will lose as they wait for Lauri Markkanen to return and count on Zach LaVine to put up big numbers) and the the fifth Denver Nuggets (who could take a step back this year while watching Isaiah Thomas flop again).

The number 12 spot is respectable, sure. But it feels more like a ranking that supposes the Blazers will be fine, rather than one that will either toil its way into obscurity or push their way into the spotlight.