3 lineups the Portland Trail Blazers should experiment with next season

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Derrick Jones Jr., Luka Doncic, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) /

2. Lockdown on defense and hold leads

The Portland Trail Blazers last year ranked in the top half of the league in clutch minutes played and 12th overall in net rating, despite finishing tied for the eighth-best record in the league.

The Blazers were incredibly good at winning close games in 2020-2021, with a league-best 126.7 offensive rating in clutch situations. This is mostly thanks to the heroism of Dame Time. The problem is that Portland almost always found themselves in a tight contest, regardless of their competition.

This can mostly be attributed to two issues: inconsistency on the bench and overreliance on offense. Portland finished sixth in the West thanks to their second-ranked offensive efficiency. The reason they didn’t place higher than sixth is because of their lackluster defense. For example, the Phoenix Suns captured the second seed behind a fifth-rated offense along with a top-10 defense.

For comparison, the Blazers ranked 29th in defensive efficiency last season.

Portland needs a group who can lockdown on defense and hold leads.

PG: Damian Lillard

SG: Norman Powell

SF: Robert Covington

PF: Derrick Jones Jr.

C: Jusuf Nurkic

This lineup swaps CJ McCollum out for Derrick Jones Jr., allowing Powell to slide to his more natural position at shooting guard, where he can make a positive impact on defense. DJJ slotting in at the four also frees up RoCo to match up against the opponent’s best forward.

Nurk anchors the backline and Jones Jr. can stick with the least threatening forward/big on the floor for the other team. This lets DJJ act as a “free safety” of sorts, where he can use his athleticism and pterodactyl-sized wingspan to create chaos, force turnovers, and block shots from the weakside.

This group also has plenty of offense between Dame, Powell, and Nurk and enough shooting to match buckets. This lineup should be deployed whenever Portland has a double digit lead in the fourth quarter and simply needs to tread water for the win.