Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers.
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers.
The start of the Portland Trail Blazers regular season is just around the corner. This NBA year is going to be very different. But that’s on par for 2020 as a whole. “What a time to be alive!”
This is going to be a great year for the Blazers. They have maybe one of the deepest teams Rip City has seen in a good long while. Portland goes at least three deep at three of the five positions, with solid NBA talent. A case can be made that all five spots on the floor go three deep. It might require some creativity, but the point remains, this is a deep and talented Blazers team.
Here is a quick summary of the Blazers offseason moves. Portland dealt the 16th overall pick of the 2020 draft, their first-round pick of the 2021 draft, and Trevor Ariza to the Rockets for Robert Covington. The Blazers also traded Mario Hezonja to the Boston Celtics for center Enes Kanter. Free agents Harry Giles and Derrick Jones Jr. signed as free agents. They replace the departed Hassan Whiteside and Wenyen Gabriel. Maybe their best move of the break wasn’t bringing in someone new, it was re-signing free agent Carmelo Anthony.
Basically, the Portland Trail Blazers set up an odd-sized rotation, where they can mix and match at any position. It hurts my brain to even think about who plays where. So, I’ll save my remaining useful brain cells to focus on this roster and the task at hand, which is how head coach Terry Stotts will use all these new NBA caliber pieces to maximize his team’s talent and put them in situations to be successful.
CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers.
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.
Carmelo Anthony, Portland Trail Blazers.
PG – Anfernee Simmons
SG – Gary Trent Jr.
SF – Rodney Hood
SF/PF – Carmelo Anthony
C – Enes Kanter
Expect Hood to be eased back into games as he is also recovering from an injury. After just 21 games last year, Hood suffered an Achilles injury, which shut his season down. Hood has been rehabbing ever since he had successful surgery to repair the damage. This second unit is going to be even more interesting when Collins comes back. This is where Stotts and his staff are going to have great headaches.
When was the last time someone ever said, “man, I have a great headache today”? Well, in sports, it usually refers to the issue of having too much talent to play. But this is exactly the issue at hand. Trent had a breakout year last year and should continue to build on it. Kanter and Anthony will anchor the frontcourt scoring and probably be the focal point of the second unit’s overall scoring attack. Except when Trent and Hood are drilling threes. Melo will need to increase his rebounding prowess to help with Kanter’s rebounding ability.
Simmons made strides in his second year of the NBA. All his counting stats increased. Unfortunately, his shooting percentages all decreased with his increased minutes and volume. This year expect Simmons to be a more effective and efficient player.
With Hood being slowly easing into the game flow, the athletic Nassir Little should see increased minutes. I can’t blame you if you forgot he was on the team. Last year’s rookie didn’t do much for the team. This offseason, he’s apparently been following and working with Anthony, per some off-season reports.
If these reports are true, then this is HUGE news! Little’s athleticism has never been in doubt. What has been in doubt is his basketball abilities. Until turning pro, Little could get by with just being more physically gifted than his opponent. Now, he’s playing with men in the NBA who are his equal, if not better. Little may never be the offensive beast some people thought when he was coming out of high school, but he can be a respectable 3&D NBA player.
Terry Stotts, Portland Trail Blazers. (Photo via Wikimedia)
This is where Portland Trail Blazers fans can let their creative imaginations run wild. When Collins returns, Portland has three bigs that are 6-10 and up (four if you include Giles, but he’s mainly here for injury insurance). Then there are another four players (Hood, Melo, RoCo & DJJ) in the 6-6 to 6-8 range who effectively play the small and power forward spots.
Stotts can pair a defensive-minded player with an offensive-minded player. Think RoCo and Melo. Or DJJ with Hood. Or he can overload toward one of the team’s strengths. If Stots wants to go real big, he can move Hood to the shooting guard spot. Conversely, Covington can play center in a small-ball lineup, as he did in Houston last season.
Provided Trent and Simmons make another step up in their careers, Stotts has the luxury of dialing back McCollum and Lillard’s minutes. In this unusual year, it could be important than ever to keep the best backcourt in the NBA fresh for the postseason.
Is your head spinning too? This is the headache that Stotts and his staff are going to have all year. Most likely, Giles and Little probably won’t get many minutes because they are with the Blazers as injury insurance. Then there is Portland’s second-round pick this year, C.J. Elleby. The former Washington State Cougars star guard is likely to see garbage time at best this season. Elleby brings great size and a scoring mindset but isn’t overly athletic and can be streaky. That will hurt him in the NBA.
Derrick Jones Jr., Miami Heat, Portland Trail Blazers.
It’s time to put the cards on the table. It’s simple; this team is winning the Northwest Division in 2020-21. Denver and Utah will still be contenders, but both teams lack the depth firepower that the Trail Blazers have. Portland should be able to play its brand and style of basketball for the entire game with little-to-no dropoff thanks to their depth. To compete, Denver and Utah will need big minutes from their starters, along with huge leaps from some of their younger players. I just don’t see it happening this season.
If that prediction wasn’t bold enough, then try this one on for size. The Portland Trail Blazers will finish among the top four of the west. They may even challenge the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers for the top spot. The Lakers have bolstered their roster while adding championship experience. Their bench will be a big area of concern for them. Some of the pieces they now have may not mesh well together.
Not to get too far ahead, but this is probably the best year the Portland Trail Blazers have at winning a title. This team has playoff experience, depth, and a closer. They’ll be able to play big or small without getting out of their comfort zone. Also, aside from a prolonged absence by the backcourt duo, the Blazers are built to withstand injuries.
Along with getting the normal rotations playing time together, Stotts may want to experiment a little. He could play some of the more extreme lineups together. The experience could be beneficial later in the season.
How do you feel about the Portland Trail Blazers rotation this season? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.