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Portland Trail Blazers: Projecting each Northwest Division team’s record

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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Portland Trail Blazers
Portland Trail Blazers – Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic and Al-Farouq Aminu (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The NBA has grown more competitive than ever this summer. How will the Portland Trail Blazers stack up against the toughest division in the league?

Last year, the Portland Trail Blazers witnessed first-hand just how grueling playing in the Northwest Division can be. The entire division combined for a collective 243-168 record,  a league best mark at a 59.1 win percentage while also accounting for half of all playoff teams in the Western Conference.

The Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder all participated in postseason play. The Blazers would go on to be the Northwest’s sole representative in the Western Conference Finals.

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This year the story might look starkly different, as so many teams have rushed to stockpile superstars for the most wide-open championship race of this decade. Some in the division will rapidly rise up power rankings, others might drop out of the playoff picture entirely.

One thing’s for certain, this year projects to be another incredibly competitive season and should provide some highly entertaining television.

Let’s take an in-depth look at which teams improved and which weren’t so lucky, and what we can come to expect in the 2019-20 campaign for these five teams with high aspirations.