Portland Trail Blazers: 5 post-deadline goals for the rest of the season
The NBA trade deadline passed, and the Portland Trail Blazers roster is set for the stretch run. Here are five goals the Blazers should focus on.
After seeing CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic finally return from injury combined with the Portland Trail Blazers moving Gary Trent Jr and Rodney Hood to Toronto for Norman Powell, there is a clearer picture as to who this team is moving forward.
As we move into the final month of the NBA regular season, here are five goals the Blazers should have. Then they can maximize their potential and set themselves up for a sustained playoff push.
1) Integrate Norman Powell
This already looks like a goal that’s being accomplished. I love the idea of Norman Powell starting primarily because he is such an efficient scorer while not sacrificing on defense. The rest of the starters are getting better looks because opposing defenses can’t double as easily.
Powells ability to attack the basket and shoot the three-ball at a high percentage has opened up the court on offense. Not to mention having an angry playing, savvy veteran with a championship under his belt is exactly what this team was missing. All of this adds up to potentially the best offensive Blazers team in history. And what appears to be a decent defensive one, as well.
2) Get Nurkic back to pre-leg injury form
The Bosnian Beast isn’t quite matching Kanters’ production on the offensive end quite yet, but we already see Jusuf Nurkic’s impact on the defensive end. Nurkic has often been on the floor when we’ve seen the team lock up opponents on defense in recent games.
I firmly believe as his minute restriction goes up, Nurkic will round into his 2019 form. To me, Nurk looks better than the out-of-shape version he was at the start of the season. For this team to seriously make noise in the playoffs, his Interior play on both ends is an absolute necessity.