Casey Holdahl Beat Writer Portland Trail Blazers The season is just about to start, so we might as well look at where the Trail Blazers figure in this year’s collection of NBA Power Rankings. We’ll check back in every Monday to update whether Portland has moved up, down or remained unchanged in the regular rankings as the season unfolds. As you surely expected, the Trail Blazers are coming in considerably lower to start this season as they did in the last two thanks to four-fifths of the starting lineup from last season having moved on. Given that, you knew the Trail Blazers weren’t going to be ranked in the Top 10 like they were at this time last year, but seeing them bringing up the rear seems like a bit of an overreaction to the offseason. But you go with what you know, and as of right now, all that most people outside of Portland know about the Trail Blazers is that they only have one player on their roster who started consistently last season, which is why they show up in the late-20s more often than not in the first rankings of the season. Now, onto the rankings… • Marc Stein of ESPN.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 28, one higher than had had them in his training camp rankings… The gaudy production we saw from C.J. McCollum during exhibition play means Portland actually has two players to tempt any fantasy owner. Don’t want to trivialize the jobs Damian Lillard and McCollum have these days but the West, strange as it sounds, can be a cold, cold place for basketball franchises trying to reboot. Hey, kind words are kind words. Not to mention that the team with the most points always wins, so touting “gaudy production,” even if it’s in reference to fantasy basketball, is still typically a good thing. Stein has the Trail Blazers ranked behind the Lakers at No. 27 and ahead of the Nets at No. 29. • ESPN is also ranking teams as a part of their season preview. In that ranking, Portland comes in at No. 11 among Western Conference teams… Portland’s inexperience and limited outside shooting on the wing will probably prevent the team from making a playoff push, but if veteran coach Terry Stotts can find the right combinations to get the most out of the new pieces, the Blazers could remain competitive. Thirty wins is a realistic baseline, and RPM-based projections show Portland closer to 40 wins than 30. Assuming they’re out of the playoff race, the Blazers won’t have much incentive to milk every win out of this season, which could limit their total. This year may end up looking like 2012-13, Lillard’s rookie campaign, when Portland was 33-36 before losing its final 13 games. The Trail Blazers are ranked ahead of the Kings at No. 12 among Western Conference teams and behind the Suns at No. 10. • John Schuhmann of NBA.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 25, two spots better than their offseason ranking… Pace: 96.5 (13) OffRtg: 105.5 (8) DefRtg: 101.4 (10) NetRtg: +4.2 (5) As the starting shooting guard and the back-up point guard, C.J. McCollum will have every opportunity to make a run for the Most Improved Award. Damian Lillard might similarly get every opportunity to lead the league in scoring. The pair ranked first and fourth in preseason field goal attempts. Meyers Leonard might only shoot threes this season. Meyers averaged 7.3 field goal attempts per game in preseason play, with 4.1 of those coming from behind the three-point line. So while I would expect he’ll shoot more than just threes this season, I wouldn’t be entirely shocked if his attempts ended up being a 50/50 split between inside and outside the arc. Schuhmann has the Trail Blazers behind the Nuggets at No. 24 and ahead of the Nets at No. 26. • Jeremy Woo of SI.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 28 in his preseason rankings… The Blazers took the biggest plunge from last year’s final set of rankings, falling all the way from No. 8, with LaMarcus Aldridge headlining four departed starters. Expect big numbers, if not efficient percentages, from Damian Lillard. C.J. McCollum could also pick up some of the load, but this is no longer a playoff team in the crowded West. Hat tip to GM Neil Olshey for getting creative and finding several new pieces. Still, there’s no easy fix for what was lost. For the record, the Trail Blazers “lost” LaMarcus Aldridge. Everyone else, they let go. Woo has the Blazers behind the Lakers at No. 27 and ahead of the Timberwolves at No. 29. • It’s not a power ranking, but Grantland’s Zach Lowe did put together his yearly League Pass Rankings, with the Trail Blazers coming in at No. 25… Portland being so low shows how viewer-friendly the NBA is right now. The Blazers are roadkill in the West, but a Terry Stotts offense flows, and the general structure of Meyers Leonard spotting up around Damian Lillard/Mason Plumlee pick-and-rolls makes sense. Leonard won’t be a mystery after this season; Stotts will let him gun from deep, and he’ll get extended minutes to show he at least understands the general concept of defense. Lillard will have the green light from anywhere past midcourt, and Portland has dotted the roster with reclamation types itching to prove themselves. Even Stotts, a great coach, has a lot at stake as he enters the final year of his contract. There’s some debate over how good the Trail Blazers will be this season, but there does seem to be a consensus that they’re be a fun team to watch regardless of wins and losses. Lowe has the Trail Blazers ranked behind the Lakers at No. 24 and ahead of the 76ers at No. 26. • Along the same lines as Lowe’s League Pass rankings, Ben Golliver at SI.com ranking all 30 team in terms of entertainment, with Portland coming in at No. 19… The off-season seriously diminished Portland’s talent, but the rebuilding Blazers will focus on friskiness: Damian Lillard will be unleashed, and eager young bigs will chip in. Again, if nothing else, this season will be something completely different than what you’ve seen in the last three years in Portland. Golliver has the Trail Blazers behind the Bucks at No. 18 and ahead of the Lakers at No. 20. • Fox Sports has the Trail Blazers at No. 28 in their preseason rankings… The Blazers are more of a science experiment than a competitive NBA basketball team. What’s their objective? To see how many shots and points Damian Lillard will average? Portland won’t win many games, but Lillard remains must-see television. While it’s very likely that Lillard takes more shots this season than he has in any of his three previous, the notion that he’s going to be jacking shots just for the sake of it already seems a bit overblown. Then again, he led the league in attempts during the preseason, so who’s to say? Fox Sports has the Trail Blazers behind the Knicks at No. 27 and ahead of the Mavericks at No. 29. • Alec J Neuharth-Keusch of USA Today has the Trail Blazers at No. 24 in his first rankings of the season… After earning the fourth overall seed last season, the Blazers completely remodeled their roster — backward. Damian Lillard is the only returning starter. Expect him to lead the league in minutes and field goal attempts as he tries to carry an entire city on his shoulders. This is kind of what I was getting at in my forward to the season preview roundup. To the outside observer, this team is Damian Lillard and 14 other dudes. But there’s more talent than a lot of people realize, it’s just not the same talent. Neuharth-Keusch has the Blazers behind the Nets at No. 23 and ahead of the Magic at No. 25. • Ethan Bailey at Bleacher Report has the Trail Blazers at No. 16 after their first four preseason games… The good: Strictly speaking in terms of the preseason, the Blazers are putting up good numbers—they rank ninth in terms of points scored per game and second in rebounds (102.8 and 45.9, respectively). The bad: Lots of roster shakeup. LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum and Arron Afflalo are all gone from last year’s successful campaign. Where to go next? The Blazers’ season will come down to how well—and how quickly—coach Terry Stotts can get his new roster to gel. It will be easier said than done. Bailey has the Trail Blazers behind the Rockets at No. 15 and ahead of the Pistons at No. 17. • Gerald Bourguet at Hoops Habit has the Trail Blazers at No. 27 in their first ranking this season… Rip City has officially become the Damian Lillard show, for better or worse. Lillard will probably lead the league in field goal attempts and maybe even scoring, but how efficient will he be — coming off a shooting slump from three-point range — with defenses keying in on him every night? Aside from Lillard as leader, C.J. Mccollum and Meyers Leonard are players to watch as well. Lillard’s three-point percentage will be a stat to watch this season. His percentage from three fell five points from the 39 percent he put up his sophomore season, so how well he shoots the long ball this season could be the best indicator of which season was the anomaly. Bourguet has the Lakers in front of Portland and No. 25 and ahead of the Nets at No. 28. • Matt Moore of CBS Sports (posted September 30) has the Trail Blazers dead last at No. 30… I like a lot of the Blazers’ guys individually, and I like Terry Stotts. But I can’t tell you definitively any one area I am confident they’ll be good in. I hope this gives them bulletin board material and they prove me wrong; great franchise, good players, great coach. But man… it looks like a long year in Rip City. Moore has the Trail Blazers behind the Sixers at No. 29 and ahead of no one. http://forwardcenter.net/power-rankings-starting-near-the-bottom/
my favorite part Pace: 96.5 (13) OffRtg: 105.5 (8) DefRtg: 101.4 (10) NetRtg: +4.2 (5) top 10 in offense and defense, but total shit team! definitely worst in the league!
I'd put us at 20, ahead of the Sixers, Lakers, Knicks, Nets, Nuggets, Kings, T'Wolves, Pistons, Mavericks, and Hornets. But what do I know, I'm not a "beat writer" who's only qualification for making these "rankings" is a journalism degree...
Bro, you might want to go Google some of those rosters you posted. We re NOWHERE near them as far as talent goes. I don't think even a degree in journalism would help you out if you think we are better than them.
What is Marc Stein implying by saying its a cold place for teams trying to reboot? Since when? Is he saying because some poorly run Western teams (Whats up Sacramento?) have been and will continue to be in perpetual reboot, that it means somehow the Blazers will be too? Get out of here with that nonsense...This already looks to be a quicker reboot than I expected. Stein also disrespects Olshey by assuming Portland is going to get caught up in some cruel western conference bottom tier fight which we wont make it out of. We already have 1 All-Star, and enough young talent that another could be only a few seasons away. I guess its just funny to see media not only writing us off this season, but also our future as well. Hey Marc Stein - We got this guy named Neil Olshey running this reboot. You can choose not to trust him, but I'll look at his track record which shows he's a damn fine General Manager.
How about good players and great coach but worst team? Who says Stotts is a great coach anyway? Some of these writers are idiots. The guy just picked them last and then tried to say something nice? Who knows?
Good players, great coach, but they lost aldridge who none of us cared about until he was no longer a blazer!
