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Portland Trail Blazers (Last Year: 54-28)
2013-14 Season Summary:
The Portland Trail Blazers made tremendous strides this past in becoming one of the better teams in the Western Conference. LaMarcus Aldridge had a career year, and Damian Lillard is quickly becoming one of the best young point guards in the NBA. While the Trail Blazers’ bench was slightly improved from a year ago, the team still relied heavily upon on its starting five. That’s why Portland will still be searching to improve its bench play this offseason in hopes of taking another step forward in 2014-15.
2014-15 Projected Depth Chart:
C: Robin Lopez/Meyers Leonard
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge/Thomas Robinson/Joel Freeland
SF: Nicolas Batum/Dorell Wright/Victor Claver
SG: Wesley Matthews/C.J. McCollum/Will Barton/Allen Crabbe
PG: Damian Lillard
NBA Free Agents:
PG-Mo Williams (UFA)
PG-Earl Watson (UFA)
2014-15 Team Salary: Approximately $60.2 million
NBA Offseason Team Needs:
1. Backup Point Guard: With Mo Williams opting out of his contract, Portland has a glaring need at point guard behind Damian Lillard. C.J. McCollum could possibly play some one, but the Trail Blazers would be better off trying to either re-sign Williams, who played a pivotal role as their sixth man, or find a capable replacement.
2. Bench Scoring: Despite making several moves last summer to improve their bench play, the Trail Blazers still lacked a whole lot of scoring punch outside of Williams. A healthy McCollum should help fill that void, but Portland still needs to be aggressive in improving its bench in hopes of taking some of the pressure off the starting five. The Trail Blazers have little cap flexibility, so they will have to find a bargain or two.
3. Backup Big: Gee, Meyers Leonard has been a bust in the NBA so far … who would have guessed that. (I’m frantically raising my hand). Joel Freeland hasn’t offered much in a reserve role either, so Portland could use a more reliable low post option to play behind Robin Lopez so the team doesn’t need to rely on Aldridge playing so many minutes at the five.
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