The Portland Trail Blazers have one of the worst defenses in NBA History

The Portland Trail Blazers have had an up and down season with injuries, and then inconsistent play on both ends, sending them into a post-All-Star break slump.

Their main problem in losing nine of their last eleven games, has been defense. This has been the worst run of the season and one of the worst in recent memory, and most of the issues come down to that end of the floor.

In the pre-season, the acquisition of Robert Covington in a trade, the signing of Derrick Jones Jr with the mid-level exception, and then the return of Jusuf Nurkic meant there was huge positivity around not just the Blazers but their defense.

Covington is an ex-All-Defense member who is one of the best help guys in the entire league. Jones Jr is an amazing shot blocker while also being a strong man defender and a guy that can jump passing lanes and get loose balls.

The return of Nurkic was going to be massive as well. His two-way play in the bubble was something else, and his impeccable defensive positioning and size were a big part of why the Blazers beat a multitude of good teams in the bubble.

Fast forward from free agency in November, and the Blazers are slipping. They had a nice run in February where they beat several sub .500 teams, but when the competition got tough in the last 10 games, they have started to sink.

Covington has had a good season, but Jones Jr has been up and down. He had a massive impact on some games earlier in the season, but with the return of CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, his minutes were cut. This was tough for Jones, as he hasn’t impacted the game as much with his smaller role.

Nurkic had a rough start to the season as he had to head back to his home in Europe to deal with family matters, then broke his arm in January. The toughest part about this injury, is that it contributes to a narrative around his injury issues. But, the injuries that Nurk has had previously have been leg injuries. His broken arm was a freak injury that had nothing to do with previous issues.

Nurk came back in March, but has taken until the last few weeks to truly start showing his best play. He is such a key component of this team, and without him, this team has had massive defensive struggles.

The Portland Trail Blazers have one of the worst defenses in NBA History

The Blazers are conceding 117.6 points per 100 possessions at the moment. Not only is this the second-worst mark in the league, but this is the third-worst mark in NBA history.

There is context to this because of the incredible pace and level of offense in this year’s NBA, but it’s still a massive concern for Blazer fans and the team.

A lot of the blame also needs to lie with Coach Terry Stotts. Stotts now has defensive pieces on the roster in Covington, Nurkic, Jones Jr, and young players Nassir Little and, to a lesser extent Harry Giles.

Though some of these guys are only one-way players, other NBA teams have similar personnel and rank better than 29th in the league. Stotts doesn’t have this team functioning at a playoff level in terms of defense, which may spell the end of his coaching tenure. The lack of effort and execution shows the lack of care and effort from the roster. All of this isn’t on Stotts, but he needs to take some responsibility for the Blazers having an all-time bad defense.

For example, early in the season, when playing against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, Stotts still played his drop coverage pick and roll defense. Rather than trap Curry and make the other sub-standard role players make shots, he single-covered Curry, who ended up with 60 points.

Not adjusting to opposition players or schemes is a red flag at this level.

Even if there have been some unlucky injuries this year, seeing this team being worse defensively than in 2020, is a sign that maybe Stotts needs to go. With defensive personnel on the team now, this level of defense isn’t acceptable.

The Blazers have 12 games to turn this season around. They can start moving up the defensive ranks while also avoiding a matchup with a heavy-hitting Western Conference team in the playoffs.