Just over nine months ago, the Portland Trail Blazers learned that star forward LaMarcus Aldridge was in fact leaving the team and heading to his home state of Texas to sign with the San Antonio Spurs.
You may recall that Portland had just finished a 51-31 regular season with Aldridge at the helm, and were the #4 seed in the playoffs. Their season was officially over just two weeks later as Portland was eliminated 4-1 against Memphis in the first round. That alone would have been the punch to the gut the franchise didn’t need just one season removed from winning its first playoff series in 15 years.
While many were hoping for Aldridge to return to Portland and perhaps even help to lure another big name to the Rose City, that’s just not what happened.
The first piece of the sky fell when popular forward Nic Batum was traded to Charlotte in exchange for forward Noah Vonleh and guard Gerald Henderson on June 24th. The next day, GM Neil Olshey dealt his 2015 first round draft pick and Steve Blake to Brooklyn for Mason Plumlee and the draft rights to Pat Connaughton.
The next week was the most tumultuous. Following a “will he/won’t he” period from May 1st through June 30th, the city of Portland awoke on Monday July 4th to the unofficial announcement that Aldridge intended to sign with the Spurs. Aldridge’s impending departure heavily influenced shooting guard Wesley Matthews, center Robin Lopez, and reserve guards Arron Afflolo and Alonzo Gee to sign with other teams.
Many in Portland saw this massive departure as a reason to give up hope. But July 9th wasn’t just the day the old team folded, it was also the day the new team began to form.
Free agent forward Al-Farouq Aminu, Olshey’s first round selection in 2010 when he was with the Clippers, signed a four year deal after playing as a reserve in Dallas in 2015. Free agent forward/center Ed Davis, a reserve with the Lakers in 2015, signed a three year deal. Five days later, Olshey sent a 2020 second round pick to Orlando in exchange for reserve forward Maurice Harkless.
And just like that, the Blazers were an entirely new team, with only four carryover players from 2015 in Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Allen Crabbe, and Meyers Leonard. Most expected a season resembling the Blazers’ 2012 campaign, and through the first 53 games, that’s almost exactly what they got.
From opening day to the all-star break, Portland limped to a 26-27 record and was widely considered a potential lottery team, and one of the worst defensive teams in the league as well as a predictable offensive team. With a winning percentage of .491 and a ton of improvement needed from their frontcourt, the team was expected to come off the rails as the season wore on, with most calling them a playoff bubble team at best in the loaded Western conference.
While some were looking for the team to trade budding star CJ McCollum while interest was high and potentially get a high pick in this summer’s draft, Olshey stuck to his guns and held on to his core players through the trade deadline, and what followed, was nothing short of amazing.
Fresh off being completely snubbed by the all-star game, Damian Lillard threw his game in to his highest gear and led Portland on a 137-105 thrashing of Golden State in the first game following the all-star break. Lillard had 11-straight games with at least 20 points, including 7 with 30 or more and two 50-point games. Fueled by Lillard’s rampage, Portland posted an 18-11 (.620) record the rest of the way and finished with an overall record of 44-38, good enough for the 5 seed in the West and their third consecutive playoff berth.
According to ESPN’s John Hollinger’s analytics, in 2014-15 Portland had the #6 point guard (Lillard), #14 shooting guard (Matthews), #31 small forward (Batum), #3 power forward (Aldridge), and #32 center (Lopez).
In 2015-16, Portland had the #5 point guard (Lillard), #9 shooting guard (McCollum), #29 small forward (Aminu), #69 power forward (Vonleh), and #26 center (Plumlee).
There was obviously an overall dropoff from 2015 to 2016, but not nearly the wide and deep canyon many saw separating the two squads in the early goings. Despite retaining just four players from the previous year, the net change was a mere seven wins and one playoff seed. This wasn’t just a rebuild, it was a legitimate overnight rebuild, which just does not happen.
And as crazy as it sounds, the numbers on the stat sheets show that Portland actually became a better offensive team in 2016. In 2014-15, Portland averaged 102.8 points per game (9th), shot 45% from the field (16th), shot 36.2% from beyond the arc (8th), and made .801% of their free throws (1st).
In 2015-16, Portland averaged 105.1 points per game (6th), shot 45% from the field (16th) shot 37.1% from beyond the arc (3rd), and made .753% of their free throws ( 19th).
Defense was a different story, that the 2015 squad took handily. They allowed the 11th lowest points per game at 98.6, 7th lowest FG% at .439, and the 6th lowest from beyond the arc at .338%.
The 2016 team allowed the 20th lowest points per game at 104.4, 16th lowest FG% at .453, and the 27th lowest from beyond the arc at .372%.
While there is clearly work to be done on both sides of the ball and some missing pieces on the roster yet to be found, this turnaround has been unexpected to say the least, and impressive to state the obvious.
Portland hoped that Lillard would be the on court and emotional leader this young team needed, and he has done that and then some. Olshey hoped that Lillard and McCollum would blossom in to one of the best back courts in the game, and that’s exactly what happened.
And now, after all of the dust has settled and the critics silenced, the playoffs await. While a first round playoff series with the Clippers may look about as inviting as a glass of spoiled milk, don’t forget to remember that this team wasn’t supposed to go anywhere, but they proved everyone in the league wrong, including their own fans.
Wherever they go from here, they’re already miles and miles away from where anyone expected to see them.
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