Portland Trail Blazers: As the preseason begins, what to expect for the season
The Trail Blazers’ preseason begins on Monday. Have the Blazers made enough offseason moves to make a difference? Dame believes so.
This offseason seemed to have been very quiet for the Blazers. My first opinion was they didn’t do enough to make it out of the first round. But Damian Lillard believes in his team and is betting his legacy on it.
The freshman coach
I wasn’t too excited about Chauncey Billups‘ hiring. But I was happily surprised after watching him during Summer League. He is forceful and unrelenting. Defense is his mantra, and he looked as though he had been doing this for some time. I can’t wait to see how that converts to coaching a Blazers’ team that was 29 out of 30 in defense last season.
Has Chauncey Billups found the answer to getting Portland out of the first round? It has never been the Blazers’ problem getting to the playoffs. Except for this past season, the Trail Blazers have been in the top five of their conference.
Training camp
According to Billups, this has been a great training camp. The Blazers had the following players join them:
- Dennis Smith, Jr. – All indications were that he would be the Knicks’ starting point guard. Then Elfrid Payton returned, and Immanuel Quickley was a rookie sensation. Smith was traded to the Detroit Pistons for Derrick Rose.
- Marquese Chriss – Formerly with the Golden State Warriors, Chriss broke his leg last December. It seems his injury was a big letdown for the Warriors and could be why they didn’t make the playoffs.
- Patrick Patterson – He played for the Los Angeles Clippers last season, where he started five games. He is 32 years old. Let’s see if he makes the Blazers’ cut.
- Quinn Cook – Cook is a point guard and would be a third-string guard behind Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and Anfernee Simons. He’s been in the league for five seasons, and this would be his sixth team.
If these players can satisfy Billups’ needs for his team, maybe they will make the roster. I think he’s looking for fast-paced players who will be able to get back on defense as well as offense.
We’ve signed @quese, @QCook323, @pdpatt & @Dennis1SmithJr to training camp contracts & @KBlevs02 to a two-way contract.
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) September 23, 2021