Portland Trail Blazers – Setting a rotation for a talented and deep team
CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers.
Starting Point (or Starting Lineup)
PG – Damian Lillard (Dame)
SG – CJ McCollum (CJ)
SF – Derrick Jones Jr. (DJJ)
PF – Robert Covington (RoCo)
C – Jusuf Nurkic (Nurk)
To get the obvious out of the way, Portland has probably the best backcourt duo in the NBA. The Blazers are led by Damian Lillard. He possesses a rare combination of skill, athleticism, and vision. There isn’t a coach in the NBA that would hesitate to put the ball in his hands at crunch time. On most other NBA teams, CJ McCollum is a star attraction. In Portland, he’s the number two option. However, anyone who defends him as a second option on the court will get buried.
For those who forgot, forward Zach Collins is recovering and rehabbing from an ankle injury he sustained in the Orlando Bubble. I originally thought Melo might be in the starting lineup with Collins’ start to the season being delayed by about a month. But it looks like Stotts will start DJJ over Melo. That means 1) Stotts has forgotten more basketball than I know, and 2) Melo adds a bigger scoring punch off the bench than DJJ and the rest of the backups.
In Collins’ absence, RoCo starts in the frontcourt as the four, partnering with Jusuf Nurkic, the Blazers multi-dimensional center. In reality, DJJ and RoCo can be interchanged. Both players are great defenders and on-ball defenders. Covington is the better offensive player. When looking at this starting lineup, you will get plenty of scoring from the backcourt duo, and the frontcourt will be a nice secondary scoring unit. DJJ can solely focus on defense, hustle, and energy plays. Maximizing the strengths of the players. When Collins returns, Covington will slide over to the three.