Rip City Project
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Assessing Portland Trail Blazers strengths and weaknesses in NBA bubble

By Stevie Cozens

PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 25: (EDITORS NOTE: Alternative crop) Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers celebrates in the fourth quarter against the Brooklyn Nets during their game at Moda Center on March 25, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 25: (EDITORS NOTE: Alternative crop) Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers celebrates in the fourth quarter against the Brooklyn Nets during their game at Moda Center on March 25, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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Weaknesses

We will start with the weaknesses. This Blazers team, as it is currently constructed, has several flaws, some will impact them significantly, others not so much.

Wing Depth

This may be the Blazers’ biggest issue when they step on the court for game one against the Memphis Grizzlies. Although this team will be able to score from the wing with Carmelo Anthony starting at small forward, defensively, this is a significant problem.

The unavailable Ariza is a starting-caliber small forward in this league still. Though he is 36-years-old, he does so many things better than Melo. Sorry Melo fans, this is a fact. He is a better free-throw shooter, a better three-point shooter, and this season he was better at the rim. When you add in his defense, this thing isn’t close.

Melo is a better scorer than Ariza, but when you look at efficiency, Ariza is likely ahead.

Melo’s shot creation is needed on this team, but his lack of lift at the basket has meant that defenders don’t respect his drive game as much. He isn’t a slasher anymore, Melo is a power forward now who will be playing out of position at the three.

This doesn’t mean that Melo is washed or that he cant help an NBA team. He just isn’t an NBA wing anymore. He is a stretch four who can rebound and defend at below league average.

Behind Melo, we have Gary Trent Jr. As a wing is classified as a player that plays the two or three, Trent is the only wing that plays both sides of the ball. We love Trent, and he has already shown in the limited NBA bubble play how he can defend top guards—locking up guys like Victor Oladpo. He will competently defend a lot of the smaller threes in the league, but at six-foot-five, he will struggle to defend the Paul George’s and Tobias Harris’s of this world.

He is by far the best wing defender we have, but this squad is going to rely on Melo, who will play the three for the majority of the time.

Now, if there is an injury to Melo or a guard, then they will be in trouble. Hoard is very raw, and Mario Hezonja plays a lot better at the four than the three. Nassir Little is back out of concussion protocol, so he will be the goto man as the third small forward if there is foul trouble or an injury.

No one in this team can defend the league’s best small forwards. This could end up being a massive problem.

Perimeter defense

Perimeter defense has been a problem for this team ever since Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum left or were traded. Trent is the next man up in terms of being a plus NBA defender on the perimeter, but as CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard age, this team will struggle more and more on the perimeter.

Dame’s heavy offensive load and CJ’s lack of size and strength mean that they struggle to take on the better guard threats in this league. If Dame guards the point guard, then CJ is left with a shooting guard who could be Jaylen Brown, who is six-foot-six and 230 pounds.

Like we mentioned above, Trevor Ariza was able to cover some of these guys dependent on lineups. But with him not there, if the opposition has a big 1 – 3 who are also quick: EG, the Boston Celtics, they will struggle to get stops.

Rookie forward Little has shown some skills on defense that may mean he can be a plus defender in the future, but he is still very raw. The Blazers will rely very heavily on their rim protection to cover up their lack of perimeter stoppers.