Portland Trail Blazers Offseason Preview

by David Pincus
2006-07-06

The Blazers had a two-decade streak of making the postseason. Anything leftover from the those teams is nonexistent, as the Blazers had their second-worst season in franchise history, all the way back to 1972 (the team’s second year in the League). So what can Portland do to rebound back to their glory days?

The year started out bad enough. Within a month they were all in last place in the division, and shortly after that they’d sink even below the Knicks. In the end, their opponents won by almost ten points a game. Several factors didn’t help, the first being their number of injuries. Only three Blazers played 70+ games, and the team never gelled with all the roster changes.

Offensively the team was a disaster. Last in the NBA in points, Sebastian Telfair could score but didn’t run the offense. Steve Blake stepped in and did better, but the Blazers still finished last in the League in PPG, 23rd in FG% and 28th in assists. Randolph was off-and-on and Darius Miles missed half the season due t o injury.

Near the end of the season the Blazers tried to mix things up. They dealt Ruben Patterson away in a multi-team deal for Brian Skinner and Voshon Leonard. While they didn’t nearly as good quality (as Patterson was having a great year) it did ease some of the tensions in the clubhouse. It didn’t ease all of the though, as Darius Miles was kicked off the team with only three games to go.

Portland has been an embarrassment since blowing a 15-pt fourth quarter lead to the Lakers in the 2000 Western Conference Finals. Now with a different coach and giant draft day, the Blazers seem to be on the rise. But how high can they go?

Needs:

1. Randolph to fully develop

The Blazers may be a poor team but at least they’ve been trying. When Zach Randolph posted 20-10 numbers in 03-04 they signed him to an $84 million deal. With the teams wins declining since this move, it’s clear that Randolph needs to emerge as a superstar. Last year he posted 18 points and 8 boards a game. Not bad, but more should be expected from the franchise player. He’s too hesitant to accept the role. He never demands the ball and often winds up taking bad outside shots. He can hit the outside jumper, but he’s kidding himself when he thinks he can take 55 threes and get away with it.

Randolph has potential to be an all-star but he’ll never be one if he doesn’t increase his inside game. He can use his outside shooting ability to shoot over the defenders when he gets in close (like Chris Bosh). With max contracts already paid out to Miles and Pryzbilla, the Blazers cannot afford to have $84 million go down the drain.

2. Chemistry/Miles’ exit

Ever since the team to got rid of Rasheed Wallace, Scottie Pippen and Shawn Kemp, the team has had dreadful chemistry issues. When they ousted those players, Portland hoped that they could properly rebuild. However, they still have some demons to overcome before they can start anew.

With Patterson and Telfair gone the team still has to work with Zach Randolph and Darius Miles. Randolph certainly hasn’t helped with the “Jail” Blazers image, what with his marijuana use, underage drinking, drunk driving, a shooting incident in Indiana and a fight with Ruben Patterson in the Blazers locker room. Without a doubt he has to go if Portland really wants to move forward, but he has $73 million remaining on his deal, and has absolutely no chance of being moved.

Darius Miles has gotten on the wrong end with both Mo Cheeks and Nate McMillan with the latter ultimately getting him thrown off the team. In a perfect world, Miles is kicked out of the League like the bum he is. Sadly, his remaining $34 million will be nearly impossible to move. Unless they can et on the phone with Isiah Thomas, they’ll likely have to buy out his contract.

No team can rebuild when the players can’t get along. Portland has to stick a clause in Randolph’s contract saying that he could violate his deal if he has any more off-the-court transgressions. If they can do that, then they might be able to dump Randolph after all. If not, they’ll have to work around him.

3. Some veteran leadership

The Blazers were the youngest team in the NBA last year and not surprisingly were the worst. Now with dealing Theo Ratliff and acquiring rookies Brandon Roy and LeMarcus Aldridge, the team is even younger. If they hope to succeed they need to add some veteran class and dignity to the organization.

Brian Skinner and Raef LaFrentz have the most experience on Portland right now (eight years). No team can succeed if Brian Skinner has the most miles on him. They need a Bo Outlaw or Darrell Armstrong-type player who doesn’t mind being on the bench.

When the post-Jordan Chicago Bulls lost over 60 games, Fred Hoiberg at 28 was the oldest player on the team. Portland can’t win without some players who know their way around. They don’t necessarily need to score, they just have help Randolph and the others have continuity.

4. Increase the tempo

Last year Portland was dead last in scoring. They tried running a slow-down offense but all that did was make things worse. There is no excuse for the youngest team in the League to be last in scoring.

McMillan needs to loosen the reigns on the Blazers and let them run like the Phoenix Suns. Running plays and setting up the offense worked for the Sonics, who had more experienced players like Allen and Lewis.

But the Blazers need to be more spontaneous.

Hopefully Roy and Aldridge will get the tempo for the Blazers up. They’ll win more games if they score, since they won’t have to rely so much on their defense (which isn’t good).

5. Rebounding

With the frontcourt of Zach Randolph and Joel Pryzbilla locked in for years to come, you’d think the Blazers would be a proficient rebounding team. But as it turns they were last in that category too.

This area will be nearly impossible to improve on. Now that Randolph and Pryzbilla are paid big money, they’re not going to be motivated to dive on the floor. And the other Blazers won’t do it unless their moral is up, which it won’t be because their chemistry is poor and they’re probably losing. In other words, don’t expect them to improve by much.

Overall Portland has a nice influx of talent with Roy and Aldridge joining the team. But misplaced contracts to Randolph, Pryzbilla and Miles will hurt the team’s development. Unless their rookies really come through for them and Miles goes to another team, the Blazers will be awful next year as well.