15. Portland Trail Blazers When we last saw them ... Damian Lillard was expressing frustration that his 34.3 points per game and 10.2 assists per game weren't enough to help the Blazers knock off the short-handed Nuggets in the first round. Win-loss projections ESPN Forecast: 43-39 FiveThirtyEight: 48-34 Caesars: 45.5 wins | Title odds: +6000 Blazers in NBArank Damian Lillard (8) CJ McCollum (30) Jusuf Nurkic (74) Robert Covington (89) Norman Powell (100) Most impactful offseason move: Hiring Chauncey Billups Billups replaced Terry Stotts as coach. General manager Neil Olshey laid the blame for the first-round loss and finishing 29th in defensive rating at Stotts' feet, saying those outcomes were "not a product of the roster." That puts pressure on Billups, a first-time head coach with only one year on the sidelines as an assistant. Breakout candidate: Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little Portland has high hopes for recent first-round picks Simons and Little. Simons developed into a reliable 3-point threat last season (43% on 4.4 attempts per game) and will get more ball-handling duties after primarily spotting up alongside Lillard and CJ McCollum last season. Little is the Blazers' most athletic wing defender with size and the team hopes he can continue to develop as a shooter after hitting 35% of limited 3-point attempts in 2020-21. Lillard denies requesting trade but wants Blazers to 'be more urgent' Damian Lillard denies reports he's requested a trade, but says he's made it clear to the Trail Blazers he wants to compete for a title. Pivot point for 2021-22: Can the Blazers win enough to keep Dame in Portland? There will be heightened interest around the league in Portland's record because teams are eyeing Lillard as the next superstar to change teams. Although Lillard aired his unhappiness, he never took the step of requesting a trade and indicated his commitment to the Blazers at the start of training camp. That could change if Portland struggles, putting additional pressure on Billups to win now. He'll have a better defensive group to work with than Stotts, as the Blazers replaced the backup frontcourt of Carmelo Anthony and Enes Kanter with veteran center Cody Zeller and trade target Larry Nance Jr. Portland also enters the season healthy after starters McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic missed a combined 60 games last season. When those two were in the lineup with deadline addition Norman Powell, the Blazers' current starters outscored opponents by 13.4 points per 100 possessions, second-best among units with at least 350 minutes together according to NBA Advanced Stats. One game you can't miss: Nov. 14 at Nuggets The Blazers will learn whether they have solved last year's issues during a pair of matchups against the Nuggets in November, with the return game (Nov. 23) on TNT. -- Pelton https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...ctions-breakout-stars-storylines-all-30-teams
So....not only running it back, predicing the same basic mediocrity we've had for years. Bottom tier of the Playoffs most likely and not a threat to do any damage in the post season. It will be the first opening night I've missed in over 2 decades.
