Portland Trail Blazers: All-time Blazer battles: Who wins?
By Ryan Gaskin
Portland Trail Blazers team 1 consists of Lillard, Roy, Kersey, Wallace and Walton. Team 2 is Porter, Drexler, Pippen, Aldridge and Sabonis. Who wins?
I’ve been watching more and more historical basketball since the NBA has been put on hold, and it felt appropriate to pose a few historical hypotheticals. I picked out two teams (plus three bench players for each team) from a list of the greatest Portland Trail Blazers, and I want to find out which team would take a 7-game series?
There are, of course, a few things to consider. Comparing eras is tricky, and we’ll have to take into account the years each player was in the NBA. Likewise, you’ll need to compare the matchups, on both offense and defense.
Also, for the sake of argument, we’ll say that every player is in their Portland tenure while playing this series.
Lillard/Roy backcourt
The stuff of dreams for RipCity. If Brandon Roy had never gone down, we may have never seen Damian Lillard in Portland, but we can still dream.
A backcourt featuring Lillard and Roy would have potentially been the best in the league, and would have likely led to a championship in Portland. Roy was athletic and nifty, and got to the rim with ease, and was simply a tough-shot maker. This would’ve left the perimeter open for Lillard, where he’s most comfortable.
An Aldridge and Sabonis pairing is high on the skill charts
This big-man duo is equally tough to stop. Imagine both of these players, in their primes, on either end of the post.
LaMarcus Aldridge remains an élite scorer to this day, but back in his Portland days, he was unstoppable. That, paired with the skilful Arvydas Sabonis would’ve been a nightmare to guard. I’d also like to think that Sabonis would be shooting threes if he played in today’s NBA, something that would have made him even scarier.
Kersey/Wallace: That’s tough. Really tough
Now this, this is a scary-looking wing pairing. Jerome Kersey and Rasheed Wallace both had pride in their toughness, and would’ve locked up if they played together.
Wallace was especially nails, and with a skilful Bill Walton at the 5 spot ahead of them, this front-court would’ve been exciting to watch.