Anfernee Simons, Portland Trail Blazers (photo by Erik Drost via Flickr)
After the Portland Trail Blazers‘ hot 4-0 start, we take a look at three observable factors that have contributed to this team’s early, unexpected success.
The players that Portland Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin acquired at the 2022 trade deadline and offseason have already made their presence felt this season. Jerami Grant‘s length and Josh Hart‘s energy have added something to the starting lineup not seen in years.
Include an athletic bench mob full of capable defensive wings, and you start to see the seeds of this team’s future finally start to grow. These roster changes seem to have finally unlocked some of the defensive stratagies that head coach Chauncey Billups was trying to implement last year.
Players like Shaedon Sharpe, Nassir Little, and Justise Winslow do a great job clogging up lanes and pestering opponents while not being offensive liabilities. They’ve helped compensate for what was predicted to be a weak perimeter defensive team while Gary Payton II recovers from his core injury.
Though Jusuf Nurkic struggled on defense in both road games, he redeemed himself in home wins against the Suns and Nuggets. It can only get better for the team as he rounds into shape and becomes more acclimated with his new teammates.
Anthony Simons took his defensive criticism to heart this past offseason; he looks much improved. His continual development on that side of the ball will ultimately be what makes or breaks the Blazers’ backcourt moving forward. “Ant” has already shown what he’s capable of on the offensive end.
The Portland Trail Blazers’ first three wins were all pretty close games. In Sacramento, the Blazers pulled out a scrappy win. Both Grant and Hart had three-point plays late in the fourth quarter. Against the Phoenix Suns, Simons hit a late-game running hook to seal an overtime win.
After trading late-game baskets between Damian Lillard and Lebron James, Grant hit the final go-ahead layup against the Lakers, over the heads of Lebron and Anthony Davis.
In the 4th game of the week, Anfernee Simons went on a third quarter 22-point tear. His run put Denver away, so late-game heroics weren’t necessary.
Blazers fans know about Damian Lillard’s reputation for dragging the Portland Trail Blazers through so many late-game victories. It’s nice to see him have some help finally.
No missed dunks, no stepping out of bounds, just Grant, Simons, and company making Lillard’s job easier. This leads us to the #1 observation.
What a return it’s been. Dame averages 33.3 points per game on 50% from the field and 40% from three-point range. His outstanding play earned him Western Conference Player of the Week honors.
After finding out early last season that Dame was playing through an abdominal injury for the past few years, he opted to have surgery. If he can play as well as he did with an injury, what is his actual ceiling when healthy?
Lillard had a difficult first game but rebounded for back-to-back 41-point performances, followed by a 31-point game during a fun-to-watch blowout of Denver. Not only has he announced that he’s back with an exclamation point, but Dame also announced that he has an improved team ready to wreak havoc on the rest of the league.
Dame coming out and backing up his offseason talk of health and improvement is a much-needed sigh of relief for the Portland Trail Blazers fanbase. It’s been back-to-back summers of pundits and journalists speculating that the team needs to trade Dame and blow it up. They said he’ll never win in Portland, etc.
It’s kind of nice to silence those voices.
In conclusion
I don’t think this team is quite a contender yet, but they are closer than anyone thought. Seeing improvements on defense and team chemistry clicking this early are good signs for the season.
More roster moves are probably in store, as Grant and Winslow are in the final year of their respective contracts. Additionally, Josh Hart will likely opt out and become a free agent next summer.
For the moment, I’m going to enjoy this team’s start to the season and leave speculative moves for future discussions.
What do you think about the Portland Trail Blazers’ start this season?