What playing style can we expect from the Portland Trail Blazers in 2023?

The Portland Trail Blazers will begin their season on October 19th at the home of the Sacramento Kings, and that’s still more than a month away. So far, the health of Damian Lillard, the rise of Anfernee Simons, and the signings of Jerami Grant and Gary Payton II show that fans can be very excited about this team. But how might they play on the court, and what style is possible?

Chauncey Billups will continue to lead the Blazers as the head coach and his style became clear over the course of last season. Offensively, he went for a standard pace (98.3, 16th of 30), and will surely increase that with the return of Lillard.

On offense, the main ideas will be crystal clear. Drag picks for Lillard in transition, distribution from the center of the court for Jusuf Nurkic, isolation plays for Grant, and weak-side three-point shooting for Simons to punish the defensive helpers.

The Portland Trail Blazers have to be better

Only three teams had a lower offensive rating than Portland last season (107.8), and much of that was due to the absence of Damian and the subsequent departure of CJ McCollum, who headed to New Orleans. Now, with the team 100%, this should change for the better.

Defensively, the situation will also change. Billups’ style consisted of not over-helping in the paint and the three-point lanes and always looking for the primary on-ball defender to try to contain his mark.

Because of that, Portland closed the season with the worst defensive rating in the league (116.9) and left many doubts regarding what was their weak point in recent years.

Jerami Grant and Gary Payton II are the difference-makers

Now, the arrival of Grant and Payton II will disguise many of those individual flaws that the Blazers had last season because they are excellent in one-on-one defense, but they also make their teammates better by compensating for their mistakes. Both proved that in Detroit and Golden State.

For example, according to BBall Index, Grant was the third-best player in the NBA last season in Help Defensive Activity among Helpers and Payton was the fourth-best in On-Ball Defense metric.

Over the years, the best NBA teams were the ones that knew how to balance offense and defense. Knowing when to close the doors and when to score with consistency is key to the Blazers’ claims.

There is room for hope, and if Billups makes the right moves, Portland can be one of the most surprising teams in the Western Conference with their particular style of play.