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Portland Trail Blazers: 3 crucial storylines to watch for during the Blazers’ preseason matchups

By Marlow Ferguson Jr.

Mar 4, 2020; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0), guard CJ McCollum (3) and forward Carmelo Anthony (00) during the singing of the national anthem before a game against the Washington Wizards at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2020; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0), guard CJ McCollum (3) and forward Carmelo Anthony (00) during the singing of the national anthem before a game against the Washington Wizards at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports /
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Portland Trail Blazers
Anfernee Simons, Carmelo Anthony, Portland Trail Blazers (Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports) /

In two weeks, the Portland Trail Blazers open 2020-21 preseason play. Here are a few storylines to keep eyes on when they begin on Dec. 11.

Depending on who you ask, the Portland Trail Blazers either made themselves championship contenders this offseason, or they’ll be at the very least, a team to fear in the Western Conference. They addressed pressing defensive needs, added much-needed depth, and reopened the window a bit for Damian Lillard.

Nonetheless, there are many questions that remain, mostly centered around how the Trail Blazers plan to find minutes for a team with this much depth.

On their current roster, the Blazers have ten different players that averaged at least 20 minutes per game in 2019-20, which means sacrifices will certainly have to be made, starting with the Blazers’ Dec. 11 preseason game against the Kings.

The formula to everything Portland has done really has one desired end result: putting the best tandem possible around Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic. We can play process-of-elimination from recent press conferences and get an idea of who will start.

But what about every other situation?

If Portland plans to supplant other Western Conference powers and getting out to a rare hot start to a season, these situations deserve some thought immediately.

While it’s never wise to ever completely buy into knee-jerk reactions from the preseason, we will have a better idea of what the Blazers plan to do, if we know what to watch for. Here are three things that one writer will have his eyes on.