Portland Trail Blazers: Ranking each player on the 2019-20 roster

2. CJ McCollum

For the most part, we know who CJ McCollum is and we know what he brings to the Trail Blazers. His expectations for the upcoming season don’t have a massive range — the Blazers know what they will get from him.

McCollum was the Blazers go-to scorer down the stretch in the final games against the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. His ability to score at will led the Blazers to the Conference Finals. With his stellar contributions, CJ finally put all the previous trade rumors to bed and proved he is a vital piece of the Trail Blazers’ championship aspirations.

The best-case scenario for CJ this season is that he takes enough small strides forward in his weaker areas that he is finally awarded his much anticipated first trip to the All-Star game. In order to get there, McCollum will have to flirt with 50-40-90 efficiency. Although that will be a tall task, he has previously showcased the ability to do so — coming just 2 field goal percentage points short of hitting that mark in 2017. Since then, his 3-point shooting has dipped and his ability to get to the free throw line has been less than exceptional.

This season, the Blazers will also expect McCollum to field significant minutes with the second unit in the game. CJ’s ability to play alongside Anfernee Simons will be instrumental in allowing the Blazers to toy with multiple lineups and throw different looks at defenses.

At the end of the day, the worst case scenario is that McCollum doesn’t make many improvements and repeats his 2018-2019 season. Though the Blazers won’t be expecting any massive advances from McCollum, a few small strides in the right direction will get CJ one step closer to the All-Star game, and the Blazers one step closer to a ring.

— Zahnd

1. Damian Lillard

What’s there left to say about Damian Lillard that he hasn’t already shown us on the court? After all, that’s been his personal mantra for several seasons now. Instead of displaying his workout videos on social media for the world to see, Lillard has opted to put the work in behind the scenes and allow the people to judge if it was enough.

After last year’s storybook performance in the playoffs, the critics have all seemed to jump ship. In fact, he was so dominant that he scored more points in last year’s playoffs than 216 players scored over the course of the entire regular season (among those that played at least 10 games total), including players like Rajon Rondo, Andre Iguodala, Dirk Nowitzki, and even Portland’s own Meyers Leonard.

With his future secure after signing an enormous four-year, $196 million extension, Dame can play comfortably purely for the sake of winning instead of worrying about his financial security.

Oh, and let’s not forget that the two highest scoring seasons of Lillard’s career have come directly after he released an album in the previous summer. This seems to be the most focused and tuned in he has been thus far, promoting his music, filming in Hollywood, and honing his craft on the court. Something tells me we have yet to see Lillard at his best, and this could be the year he puts his name in the conversation for an MVP award.

— Carroll