Portland Trail Blazers: Projecting each Northwest Division team’s record
Portland Trail Blazers
- Additions: Hassan Whiteside, Kent Bazemore, Mario Hezonja, Anthony Tolliver, Nassir Little
- Losses: Al-Farouq Aminu, Moe Harkless, Enes Kanter, Seth Curry, Meyers Leonard, Jake Layman, Evan Turner
Heading into next season, the Portland Trail Blazers have the unique problem of having more moving parts than any other Northwest Division team. While the Timberwolves may have 13 total players added and lost this offseason (compared to the Blazers 12), they did not lose or gain any full-time starters.
Meanwhile, the Blazers lost two starters in Al-Farouq Aminu and Moe Harkless (three if you include Enes Kanter following Jusuf Nurkic’s injury), while adding two new players expected to start next season via trade: Hassan Whiteside and Kent Bazemore.
The turnover in this year’s Blazers team could either indicate a smart transition to modern basketball or a recipe for disaster by blowing up a returning Western Conference Finals quality roster.
In total, Portland has lost 132.5 minutes per game of last year’s playoff roster (55 percent of total play time). Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Zach Collins and Rodney Hood are the only returning major contributors from last year’s playoff run.
This is certainly cause for concern, but do not panic. While the Portland Trail Blazers may struggle to develop on-court chemistry in the early parts of the season, they should be better equipped to handle their opponents in next year’s postseason.
A much improved 3-point shooting team paired next to some of the NBA’s best offensive rebounders should grant the Blazers enough firepower to overcome their opponents without Lillard being forced to play 42 minutes a night.
A rocky start shouldn’t deter fans championship hopes, because this Blazers team could easily become one of the hottest headed into the 2020 NBA Playoffs and could easily emerge as a dark horse for the crown in a wide-open Western Conference.