Portland Trail Blazers: Predicting starting lineup and rotation for ’22 season

Starting power forward – Robert Covington

Backup power forwards – Nassir Little, Derrick Jones Jr, Greg Brown

Robert Covington is one of the best three and d players in the NBA, and although he didn’t make an All-Defensive team in 2021 due to the Blazers poor team record, he is an All-NBA caliber defensive player.

Covington is an excellent volume shooter, and last season he shot a career-high 37.9 percent on 5.1 attempts per game. Though he doesnt create a lot for others, Covington is the perfect complementary offensive piece for this Blazers team because of his floor spacing ability.

He is an excellent help defender, and in what could be a better defensive situation with new coach Chauncey Billups, he could wreak havoc on this team if they can up their man defense and rotate better defensively.

In terms of backups, the Blazers are pretty thin at the four. Jones Jr will likely vie for backup forward minutes with Little at both spots, and either of these is an upgrade defensively to Carmelo Anthony who they had as a backup four last season.

With a lack of true big men between the four and the five, maybe rookie Greg Brown sees backup minutes as well.