Portland Trail Blazers: Ranking every projected bench in the NBA
By Andy Quach
The Portland Trail Blazers are set to have their best ranking bench since at least the 2019 NBA Western Conference Finals run. A reserve unit consisting of Anfernee Simons, Ben McLemore, Tony Snell, Larry Nance Jr., Cody Zeller, Nassir Little, CJ Elleby, and Greg Brown III offers a strong combination of experience, youth, athleticism, and skills.
The team is only lacking a true playmaker off the pine and perhaps a third center from having one of their most complete units in a long time. Portland still has two open roster spots as well that they could fill before the 2021-2022 season begins.
Most likely, they’ll select a pair of the established veterans that they’ve invited to participate in their training camp; two of Quinn Cook, Marquese Chriss, Dennis Smith Jr., and Patrick Patterson.
Where does the Portland Trail Blazers bench rank among the rest of the NBA’s reserve units?
For now though, let’s assume the Blazers enter the season with a reserve unit built out of their already guaranteed contracts. A lineup of Ant, Snell, Little, Larry Nance Jr., and Cody Zeller offers a blend of offense and defense that should be competitive against any other bench mob in the league.
Come playoff time, Portland will likely cut their rotation to eight-deep, with the nods probably going to Simons, Nance, and Zeller. If they so choose, though, they have the ability to continue to run 10-deep — a luxury they haven’t been afforded for at least two years.
With the deepest bench they’ve had in a while — and two more veterans likely joining soon — how does this Blazers reserve unit stack up against the rest of the NBA? We’ll look at each team’s 5-10 slots to determine the best depth in the league.
All bench units were deciphered using ESPN‘s 2021-2022 NBA depth charts.