Considering the circumstances, the Portland Trail Blazers aren't playing bad basketball with less a month to go in the 2023-24 regular season. The team is 4-6 in its last 10 games despite missing Jerami Grant for six of those and Deandre Ayton, Scoot Henderson and Jabari Walker for half. That's not even counting the continued abscences of Malcolm Brogdon and Shaedon Sharpe.
The Blazers have gotten some incredible individual performances to keep them afloat while head coach Chauncey Billups deals with a depleted roster (although he should be used to that by now). On the flip side, the team is getting little to no production from certain players who need to be producing as the season comes to a close.
Trail Blazers player stock watch: 2 huge risers, 2 unlucky fallers
Some of Portland's most reliable players have been steady since the all-star break. Anfernee Simons has only missed one game and is averaging more than 23 points and 6 assists, for example. Others, like Kris Murray, are just starting to get regular run and have been "meh" at best.
Here are four Blazers that fall on the two extreme ends of the spectrum.
Stock up: Deandre Ayton
Deandre Ayton's remarkable post-all-star-break run has been a massive but welcome surprise for Portland. The big man, who was acquired as part of the Damian Lillard trade, was putting up the worst numbers of his career through the first four months. To make matters worse, he missed 17 of a possible 54 games due to injury.
Then, for reasons unknown, the 25-year-old became one of the best centers in the NBA.
In the eight games he's played since all-star weekend, Ayton is averaging 24.5 points, 14.3 rebounds and 1.7 stocks (steals plus blocks) while shooting 64 percent from the field and 88 percent from the free-throw line.
He missed another handful of games during that stretch, but he's played in Portland's last five contests with averages of 27.2 points and 15.0 rebounds. That includes a 30-point, 19-rebound performance against the Toronto Raptors; a 33-point, 19-rebound game against the Atlanta Hawks; and a 31-point, 14-rebound night against the New York Knicks.
Ayton's stock is surging and his confidence is flying along with it. If the Blazers can unlock the potential he never lived up to in Phoenix, the center position is set through at least 2025-26.