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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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Zach Collins, Portland Trail Blazers
Zach Collins, Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /

Key issue two – Roster depth, forwards and bigs

The lack of depth at the three, four, and five spots was part of the reason this team struggled defensively and offensively. When Damian Lillard was off the floor, the team performed credibly with CJ McCollum running the ship. But when one of the forwards was off the floor, be it Ariza or even Bazemore, the Blazers got killed defensively.

And when someone like Carmelo was off the floor, they couldn’t score. Players like Wenyen Gabriel, Nassir Little, Anthony Tolliver, and Caleb Swanigan just weren’t up to playing significant minutes in the frontcourt.

Obviously, the injuries to Zach Collins and Rodney Hood were devastating, and this meant that they eroded any light bench depth they already had. This season, they will be better off. As mentioned above, a full season of Ariza, Trent, and maybe even Collins depending on when the season starts.

Just having competent NBA players in the 10 rotation spots will make a big difference on both ends.

Hopefully, using the midlevel exception to get a two-way option will help too. The Blazers can’t go another season being so light off the bench at the key forward positions.

I don’t think that the player they draft with the 16th pick will be able to help lots right away, but I’d say that Neil Olshey would like someone more mature and ready to go.