23. Portland Trail Blazers 2021-22 record: 27-55 Result: Missed playoffs 2023 title odds: +12500 Portland is rebuilding around Damian Lillard after trading away CJ McCollum and Norman Powell last season. Anfernee Simons showed what he can do with a bigger role, and Josh Hart is a nice complementary piece. It remains to be seen what the Blazers do with the No. 7 pick in Thursday's draft. Portland has some draft assets, trade exceptions and the ability to free some cap space. But the bottom line: Portland has to find talent to surround Dame. -- Youngmisuk
We've moved up! #21 Preseason notes: The Blazers went 0-4 against NBA teams (losing the last two games by a total of 65 points) and were outscored by 17.8 points per 100 possessions in Damian Lillard’s 75 minutes on the floor. So, that’s not good. In those four games, they allowed 118.7 points per 100 possessions, 4.3 more than any other team and 13.8 more than the preseason average (in games between NBA teams). Even if you count their 53-point win over Maccabi Ra’anana, the Blazers ranked 24th in opponent effective field goal percentage, 26th in opponent free throw rate, and 30th in defensive rebounding percentage. Something to watch in Week 1: The results. Given the shakiness of the preseason (and last season, for that matter), it’s fair to wonder if the Blazers aren’t again a bottom-five team in the West. And two of their Week 1 games — visits to Sacramento and L.A. — could really help answer that very question. There are 24 weeks of games after this one and this is a new group that needs time to gel, but the Kings and Lakers are teams the Blazers will need to beat if they want to make the playoffs. Portland wasn’t resting anybody when it got thumped in Sacramento eight days ago. Gary Payton II, one of the guys brought in to help the worst defense of the last four years, will miss at least the first five games of the regular season. The schedule gets much tougher after Week https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2022-23-week-1
The Athletic has us at #9. The 3-4 Warriors are at #3. Huh? NBA.com has us at #5: https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2022-23-week-3 Are there other Power Rankings out there?
