2024-25 NBA Season Preview: Portland Trail Blazers

2024-25 NBA Season Preview: Portland Trail Blazers

The 2024-25 NBA season has officially arrived! To continue our team preview series, we will be delving into the lowly Portland Trail Blazers, who entered a new direction last season after trading away Damian Lillard.

What happened last year?

After trading Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks last September, the Blazers moved in a different direction after drafting Scoot Henderson No. 3 overall. They were ultimately the worst team in the Western Conference last season with the fourth-worst adjusted NET Rating, second-worst offense and eighth-worst defense. There weren’t many positive fruits to bear other than the performances from second-round picks Jabari Walker and Toumani Camara, who were rotation pieces for them last season. 

Offseason Recap:

The Blazers only used one of their four first-round picks they had entering draft night, selecting Donovan Clingan with the No. 7 overall pick, adding to their collection of bigs that feature Deandre Ayton, Robert Williams and Duop Reath. They used the No. 14 pick to acquire Wizards wing Deni Avdija, also shipping off Malcolm Brogdon plus a future first-round pick. I’m not sure how much Avdija helps steer this team in the proper direction, but they could’ve also done worse. It was a so-so offseason for Portland, even though there were rumors they explored moves for both Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant. 

Projected Starting 5:

Scoot Henderson, G – Henderson had a very rocky start to his rookie campaign, but finished the season averaging 18.9 points and 7.9 assists (to a ghastly 5.1 turnovers) on 40.8 percent shooting and 39.5 percent from deep. He will need to be more efficient entering his sophomore season as a whole, however.

Anfernee Simons, G – The Blazers ultimately didn’t move Simons before training camp, as he enters with just one more year left on his deal. He’s Porland’s most ignitable player, having averaged 22.6 points and 5.5 assists on 56.8 percent true shooting a year ago.

Deni Avdija, F – Avdija, who signed a $55 million extension last summer, broke out last season, averaging 14.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He’s reliable and adds a very solid two-way floor to this wing room.

Jerami Grant, F – Grant, 30, doesn’t fit the current timeline of this team, but he’s a solid two-way wing who will need to be more complementary if he gets traded to a winning context.

Deandre Ayton, C – Ayton was not dominAYTON last year.

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Notable Reserves:

Shaedon Sharpe, G – Sharpe was limited to just 32 games last year due to an abdominal injury in December. He’s going to be relied upon offensively, but not as much as he would be this time last year with Avdija in the mix.

Donovan Clingan, C – Clingan, one of the best prospects in the draft, is an excellent shot-blocker, screener and play-finisher with a very high winning pedigree. I’m interested to see the potential two-man game he can develop with Portland’s mix of guards.

Biggest X-Factor: Henderson’s growth

Henderson still does have time to grow. It’s his offense. But there is a lot of baggage that comes with being a top-3 pick, even if he didn’t go No. 1 overall. He’s going to need to show that he improved his decision-making and efficiency in year 2.

Season Projection: 

I have the Blazers finishing dead last in the Western Conference and the No. 15 seed and likely fewer than 20 wins.

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