Portland Trail Blazers rank No. 10 in ESPN’s Offseason Power Ranking
After a very successful season and Western Conference Finals appearance, ESPN still ranks the Portland Trail Blazers as only the tenth best team in the NBA.
ESPN’s “way-too-early” edition of offseason power rankings heading into the NBA Draft and free agency dropped earlier this morning. A collective team of six analysts put their heads together to give an early indication as to which teams would be the biggest threats for title contention before next season kicks off. Evidently they weren’t thinking too hard, considering the Portland Trail Blazers were ranked tenth among the NBA’s 30 teams.
After a Western Conference Finals appearance in which the Blazers bested some of the NBA’s best in the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets, it seems strange to exclude the Blazers from the top four, five or even six teams. Here’s a condensed version of ESPN’s entire power ranking below.
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Toronto Raptors
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Denver Nuggets
- LA Clippers
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets
- LA Lakers
- Boston Celtics
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Brooklyn Nets
- Utah Jazz
- Indiana Pacers
- San Antonio Spurs
- Sacramento Kings
That rounds out ESPN’s predicted bunch of playoff contenders disregarding current conferences. To see how they sorted the remaining lottery-bound team, check out the official article linked above. What immediately stands out here is the decision to place the Nuggets at No. 4 despite the fact Portland bested Denver on their home court without their third best player in Jusuf Nurkic.
The Los Angeles Lakers being ranked two spots ahead of the Blazers after missing the playoffs entirely reeks of media promotion for the big market team. The imploding Celtics and mediocre Clippers being ranked so far ahead of Portland before any free agency additions or trades is also a head-scratcher.
Here was ESPN’s analysis of the current state of the Portland Trail Blazers heading into the offseason.
"“The Blazers surpassed expectations and finally broke through the wall to validate what they’ve been building around Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. And now, it’s about capitalizing on the momentum. They have been one of the most stable organizations over the past eight years and are set to remain so, with extensions for GM Neil Olshey and coach Terry Stotts in place and a likely supermax for Lillard on its way. Jusuf Nurkic’s recovery is critical to any next steps for the 2019-20 campaign, but fortunately, the Blazers are finally getting some air to breathe from the money spent during the cap-spiked 2016 summer of spending.”– Young"
Again, ESPN’s analysis seems half-baked here and falls flat on it’s face with incorrect facts. The Blazers books aren’t set to clear up until next season when Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard and Moe Harkless‘ deals expire. At least they note the exceptional stability in the Blazers organization, which will end up being a big reason as to why Portland exceeds expectations yet again.
Although the possible departure of Seth Curry, Enes Kanter and Rodney Hood is legitimate cause for concern and a reason to dock Portland’s odds heading into next year, this is completely glossed over in their analysis. ESPN’s experts fail to have a proper grasp on the current condition of this Blazers team.
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Then again, perhaps this is right where the Blazers want to be. National media outlets overlooked the talent of this roster time and time again, just for Portland to emerge as the dark horse in last year’s playoffs. Let these media outlets and analysts drum up exaggerated expectations for Los Angeles and Boston. Let Denver feel comfortable in the standings again. Because Portland is going to be back next year, whether they like it or not.