The 2015 NBA offseason for the Portland Trail Blazers will go down as one of the most memorable in franchise history, and not in the most positive way. It was an emotional, turbulent ride for Blazers fans as they witnessed a 50-plus-win team get dismantled in a matter of days. In the span of a week, we experienced every range of emotion from hopeful to disappointment to what-the-hell-just-happened.
It started ominously enough on June 25 when the Blazers traded Nicolas Batum to the Charlotte Hornets for Gerald Henderson and Noah Vonleh. Batum, however, had just suffered through his worst season yet as a Blazer and never seemed to have his head fully engaged on the court. So, the loss of Batum didn’t seem at the time like it was a sign that everything was about to fall apart the way it eventually did. Little did we know that Batum was just the canary in the coal mine.
July 1 was the first day teams were officially allowed to talk to free agents and earn verbal commitments. There was a glimmer of hope that LaMarcus Aldridge, arguably the best power forward in the NBA, would possibly stay a Trail Blazer. His initial meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers was a certified bomb on the Laker’s end. His first meeting with the San Antonio Spurs didn’t immediately prompt Aldridge to phone family and friends to say he was headed home to Texas, and various other meetings with the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns made us believe even LaMarcus had no idea where he wanted to go. He was even offered free beer for the rest of his life to stay a Trail Blazer. What more could you want? July 1 to July 3 was a whirlwind of speculation, rumors and meetings that made us all believe there was still a chance Aldridge would come back to Portland, even if we all knew he was most likely gone.
However, by the time we awoke Saturday morning on July 4, it was all over. Aldridge declared his independence on Twitter, announcing he was joining the San Antonio Spurs, making us all feel a little like Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind. It was a defining moment for the franchise, the end of a long, exhilarating, and ultimately frustrating era that included the shortened careers of Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. What would have been a fearsome threesome never fully materialized. Deep down, I think Aldridge knew even if this current group of five stayed together there were too many question marks to continue dreaming of a championship in Portland, the biggest blow mostly likely coming from the season-ending Achilles injury to Wesley Matthews, an injury that has never been the kindest to players afterwards. Still, when Aldridge left it was the final blow to a team that had built one of the best starting cores in the NBA and it was painful to have transpired even though we all knew it was imminent. Many fans felt jilted by Aldridge who once said he wanted to go down as the best Blazer ever. His short, two-paragraph farewell letter to fans didn’t help matters. It seemed as if LaMarcus didn’t give a damn about Rip City anymore. And for fans that give too much of a damn, that may have hurt most of all.
From Aldridge’s decision, the rest of the team fell apart quicker than Raymond Felton’s offseason diet plans. By July 9, Wesley Matthews, much thought of as the heart and soul of the team, signed with the Dallas Mavericks and Robin Lopez, official mascot terrorizer, officially joined the Circus. When it was all said and done, eighty percent of the Blazers’ starting five were gone, the lone silver lining being Damian Lillard signing a $120 million max extension with Portland, keeping him a Blazer for the foreseeable future. Aside from the Lillard signing, it was a rough offseason for the Blazers faithful and we all had the feeling something great had just been taken away. What was once a championship contending team was gone, replaced with what will almost assuredly be a lottery team next season.
Portland’s roster is now a who’s who of potential, athleticism and bad free-throw shooting. The term ‘hack-a-Blazer’ could be a common expression anytime Portland has a lead late in games. Newly acquired Blazers Ed Davis and Mason Plumlee shot only 50 percent from the line last season, which is just slightly above my average free-throw percentage while blindfolded in a hurricane, and figure to be key additions to the roster this season. The Blazers were one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the league last year, but Portland may have to pull Bill Schonely out of retirement to remind players of what they’ve got to do. I have no idea what kind of offense coach Stotts will draw up next season because I have no idea about anyone on this team aside from Lillard, Meyers Leonard and C.J. McCollum. For two years we have had the luxury of knowing who the starting five would be almost every night. It may be awhile before we find that kind of cohesion once again.
Make no mistake and have no illusions, this team will be bad, and not the kind of bad out east where you still make the playoffs. But, for Portland, that’s a good thing right now. You don’t want to be mediocre in the NBA; it’s like being really good at beach volleyball while living in Anchorage, Alaska. In this league, you better be a legit contender or be really bad so you can build a contender through the draft. To be in the middle is to spend years what the Blazers have been doing for the past decade; being just good enough to lose in the first or second round of the playoffs. Damian Lillard has been handed the keys to the franchise and now we will see what kind of team Neil Olshey and the front office builds around him. It will take two or three years, if not longer, for this team to even begin to resemble something special once again. For the time being, we must all come to one realization.
At the very least, we will have this to remember until the good times return again.
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