After a relatively calm offseason, how will Portland’s rotation shake out? What are its biggest strengths and weaknesses?
After beating the depleted Clippers and then putting up a decent fight against the Warriors during the 2016 postseason, Portland’s decision makers were probably a bit too optimistic about the potential of their team. With the cap skyrocketing they threw a big offer to Evan Turner and retained their free agents at a high financial cost. By the end of that summer the Blazers, like many other franchises, had essentially burned up their cap space for the foreseeable future. The contracts of Turner, Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard quickly became sunk costs, especially as the league’s cap projections plateaued towards the end of last season.
Portland’s roster has not changed all that much since the start of last year. Until they dealt Mason Plumlee for Jusuf Nurkic, the Blazers were trotting out some of the league’s worst defensive units; they looked like they would miss the playoffs comfortably. Despite a late season turnaround, they still finished within the bottom ten in defensive efficiency and missed out on the top ten on the offensive end (per ESPN Hollinger Stats). Both of those stats are particularly concerning. Even with the addition of Nurkic, the Blazers probably have a relatively low ceiling defensively. Being average on that end would be a nice improvement. Outside of its deadly backcourt duo, Portland’s team is surprisingly limited offensively across the roster. Dame and CJ will have a heavy burden to carry, and if Portland can’t crack the top ten in offensive efficiency, this could be a disappointing year.
Terry Stotts and his coaching staff have their work cut out for them. They’ll need to get the most out of some guys that seem like known commodities in order for Portland to improve. Let’s take a look at the roster position-by-position and dive a little deeper into how this Blazers rotation might look as they strive to compete in the brutal West.