The Portland Trail Blazers are just a few weeks away from regular-season competition. Which players will lead each statistical category?
The Portland Trail Blazers are only a few weeks away from commencing the 2021 regular season. With a vastly different squad to the 2020 season, there will be some slight changes to how the team plays and the rotations.
But, the main difference will be in the statistical outputs of the players. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are likely to have similar stats to the previous season, but the Blazers will return other players from injury, then reduce or increase some others’ roles with the extra bench depth now in tow.
There will be new statistical leaders in some categories, and fans can now follow new players who may lead these categories.
Which Blazer players will lead each statistical category in the 2021 season?
Points per game – Damian Lillard
If there is one statistical category that is a lock for the 2021 season, it’s Damian Lillard for points per game. Even if Lillard missed 10 or so games with an injury, he would still be far and away from the top points per game candidate.
I don’t’ think that Lillard will average 30 points per game in the 2021 season as he did in 2020, but it will likely still be around 27 or 28 points per game. Dame averaged 20 shots a game in the 2020 season as the best player on this team, but he may have a slightly reduced shot total in the coming season.
Dame won’t have the ball taken out of his hands, but he has teammates now that can either make jump shots or finish efficiently at the rim. His assist total will increase, and he won’t have the pressure to score every time down the floor.
Dame will finish with at least 26 points per game and lead the team in this category for the 6th straight season.