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Portland Trail Blazers: 3 key issues that need fixing in the 2020 offseason

By Stevie Cozens

Aug 15, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Jusuf Nurkic #27 and Carmelo Anthony #00 of the Portland Trail Blazers look on against the Memphis Grizzlies during the first quarter in the Western Conference play-in game one at The Field House. Mandatory Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Pool Photo-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 15, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Jusuf Nurkic #27 and Carmelo Anthony #00 of the Portland Trail Blazers look on against the Memphis Grizzlies during the first quarter in the Western Conference play-in game one at The Field House. Mandatory Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Pool Photo-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Portland Trail Blazers have three distinct issues that need fixing in the offseason. What are these, and how do they address them?

The Portland Trail Blazers 2019/20 season was one of ups and downs, injury, and disappointment, and in the end, a gentleman’s sweep in the playoffs to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.

Though the Blazers had a miraculous run to the playoffs in the Bubble seeding games, they had some major flaws in the 2019/20 season. Some of these were in their control, and some weren’t.

Now, as they prepare for free agency and the draft, Neil Olshey and co have the task on their hands of filling the gaps in the roster and trying to fix the issues we saw from 2019/20.

Which three issues need fixing in the 2020 offseason?

Key issue one – defense

The Blazers’ defense was terrible in the 2019/20 season. A combination of factors contributed to this, namely injuries and a lack of defensive personnel. Still, their rank of 27th was a long way below where they need to be to contend for both home-court advantage and a 50-win regular season.

Their main issue was preventing penetration and then allowing threes. It may not seem like it from watching them all year, but the Blazers were second last in three-point percentage allowed. They allowed 38.9 percent from three. This porous three-point defense was a big reason they lost a lot of close games.

There were a few reasons for this. In any screen action, Hassan Whiteside would sit back in the paint and not contest the shooter. Secondly, until Gary Trent Jr. came into his own, they had just one plus defender on the team – Kent Bazemore. Bazemore’s issue was though, he couldn’t make a shot, and he was fouling at a career-worst rate.

This season things will be better. Trent will play a full season. Trevor Ariza is there in place of Bazemore, and Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins will be there in place of Whiteside.

When you add in a draft pick and then the defense-minded player that we are hoping to see with the mid-level exception, I think this defense will be ranked around 13 – 17th in the league.

I would like to see Coach Terry Stotts use a more aggressive style coverage of the pick and roll, but we will see what he uses depending on his personnel.