How successful can a defensive-minded team be in the modern NBA? It's a question that the Portland Trail Blazers may be inadvertently trying to find an answer for, and the one that may determine how GM Joe Cronin tries to build this roster out. With a win against the tanking Sacramento Kings on Sunday, the Blazers finished the season 42-40.
Tiago Splitter's team finished with the No. 3-ranked defense in the league after the All-Star Break. For the season at large, they tied for the No. 11 defense in basketball. It was a stout unit, led by Donovan Clingan, who is quickly growing into an All-Defense level interior presence, and Toumani Camara, who already has one of those honors to his name as he quickly became an elite perimeter stopper.
In other words, a very good defense, paired with a mostly bad offense (No. 21 offensive rating, and near the very bottom in most shooting and passing categories) leads to a slighty-above-.500 team. That's not a bad outcome, especially for a team without a winning season in five years.
It's the next jump, though, the one from "fine" to "great," that is often the hardest, and is made even harder when the roster lacks offensive cohesion all the way through. In an era where teams like the Thunder, Spurs, and Celtics are elite on both ends, hitching your wagon to being a great defense that can't score consistently will be a tough sell.
Blazers are built on defense, but is that enough?
Should the Blazers double down on a defensive-minded approach and hope that a passable offense led by Deni Avdija and an aging Damian Lillard gets the job done enough to be propped up by a team that tries really hard on the other end?
I'm not sure. For the record, the best outcome is to be really good on both ends... But that would mean basically becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Blazers aren't close to achieving that. In the meantime, the Blazers do seem to be developing an identity as a grimy team that likes to pressure opponents for 94 feet and stick their noses in passing lanes.
It makes for an easy team to root for, that's for sure. If it makes for a team that can win considerably more than 42 games in a season, we'll have to wait and find out.