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The Portland Trail Blazers had a nightmare offseason. The Trail Blazers lost their entire starting lineup except Damian Lillard. Nicolas Batum, Robin Lopez, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Wesley Matthews are no longer on the team.
A year after winning 54 games in 2013-14 and beating the Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Trail Blazers won 51 games last year. The Trail Blazers had a terrific duo in Lillard and Aldridge, and a terrific set of complementary players in Batum and Matthews. It appeared that it would only be a matter of time before Portland reached the promised land.
Unfortunately Portland blew up their team over the summer. The Trail Blazers kept their most valuable player, Lillard. Lillard signed a five-year $120 million contract in the summer. The 25-year-old averaged 21 points and 6.2 assists last season.
Reality will have to set in for Trail Blazers fans that they will likely be a lottery team. The team is filled with a bunch of unproven talent. The Trail Blazers did add Gerald Henderson, Ed Davis, Mason Plumlee, Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, and Noah Vonleh. The Trail Blazers do have two young promising players in Meyers Leonard and C.J. McCollum returning.
What does this mean for Lillard?
Lillard will have a huge season, and the best in his NBA career. The young star will be asked to take over games and his usage rate will be as high as anyone in the league. The Trail Blazers won’t win nearly as many games as they’ve won the past two seasons, but Lillard will emerge into an elite player.
I expect Lillard to average 25 points and 7 assists, making him one of the best players in the league.
Trail Blazers fans should remain optimistic they have an elite guard and lots of cap room in 2016. Maybe the Trail Blazers can land Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, or Al Horford.
George Middleton is a Los Angeles Lakers/NBA beat writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgemiddlet0n, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
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