This from The Athletic’s Power Rankings (we were 10th). Interesting thought about Collins starting. I agree. Does Portland have the most potent bench unit of the West? Even before Zach Collins gets back into the mix (if that happens), the Portland Trail Blazers look pretty damn deep with their rotation. Other teams like Denver, Utah and a healthy Clippers team will have their hats in the ring for this honor, but looking at the Blazers, they just have so many weapons coming off the bench. Norman Powell is starting right now, but having Carmelo Anthony, Enes Kanter, Derrick Jones Jr. and Anfernee Simons gives them so much firepower. Melo is a big-time scorer in small doses. Kanter can score inside. Jones is a perfect Swiss Army knife. Simons has shown great potential in the limited minutes Damian Lillard doesn’t play. If Collins comes back, Powell might move to the bench. Then it will really just be a ton of scoring and production off the bench for Terry Stotts.
