I am talking about is the team of my childhood, the Portland Trailblazers. This season may not seem to remarkable to the casual observer after all they have been to the playoff recently making it to the fifth seed the last two year running, and their record is not as good as it was this time last year. For Portland faithful and the obsessive fans in the NBA whomever they root for we know the truth.
Last year Portland may have had the worst off season of any team in NBA history. First, they traded away Nicholas Batum their starting small forward, then the man that was considered their biggest star their franchise player LaMarcus Aldridge signed with the San Antonio Spurs. Then, of course, everyone started bailing ship. Our starting off guard and center soon signed with other teams. Next, three critical bench players left during free agency as well. We signed replacements with the pool that was remaining but the damage had been done. The power rating I saw had us plummeting from a top 10 team to number 29 or thirty depending on which one you are looking at. I saw some experts saying that we would win less than twenty-five games. One was more optimistic saying that he thought the Trailblazers could win as many as thirty-five.
Well, they were wrong. Most of the experts said if you thought Portland would win any more than twenty-five games, you were fooling yourself. Well Portland has already won more than that twenty-five number sitting at twenty-nine wins. Getting thirty five looks like a near guarantee. It looks like there final season total will be between forty-two and fifty, and they could end up as high as the number six seed in the Western Conference playoffs. These were thought to be impossible earlier in the season. Right now they have won ten of their last eleven and I think fourteen of their last seventeen games. This includes a thirty one point shellacking of the best team in the league, the Golden State Warriors.
No one man is responsible for this, but the one returning starter from last year bears much of the credit. Somehow the coaches did not vote Lillard onto the all-star team which is a crying shame. He is averaging more than 24 points and 7 assists a game which makes him worthy of the honor by itself, but then add to the fact what he has done to elevate his team how he has been a leader on and off the court and led this team to an amazing record.
Could Lebron James have done the same if four out of five starters and eight out of ten of the high rotation guys left the Cavs during the last off season? I don't know. Could Kevin Durrant or Stephen Curry have done the same? I don't know if any of them could, and they are the three best players in the NBA right now. That is what I mean by historic. This Portland Trailblazer team might be exceeding expectations more than any other I have have ever heard of.
I think that another holdover CJ McCollum has had a break out season and deserves the most improved player. The coach has also done an amazing job, and Terry Stotts deserves the Coach of the Year award.
Keep chugging along Portland and keep winning games.