Portland Trail Blazers
Vegas Over/Under: 42.5
Fromal’s Record Projection: 43-39
The Bet: Avoid but lean over
The Western Conference is brutally hard, and the Portland Trail Blazers’ preceding cap missteps will wind up costing themas they didn’t have too many paths with which they can improve their roster.
They even had to give up on Allen Crabbe within a cost-cutting sequence, trading him to move nearer to preventing luxury-tax penalties and future interactions with the dreaded repeater tax.
But Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are still in Rip City, and they’ll team up with Jusuf Nurkic to keep this squad in playoff contention. Right now, it is hard to oversell just how significant that last part is.
The huge guy, who was obtained from the Denver Nuggets at a midseason trade, broke out in a big way after he found himself in a new environment. He had been more focused on the defensive end compared previously and flashed some easing flourishes which never showed up at the Mile High City.
While the Bosnian was around the floor, Portland outscored the opposition by 9.2 points per 100 possessions–much superior than the minus-1.9 internet rating earned without him.
However, is that sustainable? Only time will tell, though opponents will have a scouting report on Nurkic this season. Conditioning issues could also pop up since he is tasked with playing extensive minutes for the first time.
Especially with little persuasive depth on the wings, do not expect the Blazers to take huge strides ahead. Nurkic should help the star-studded backcourt maintain its playoff-caliber level, but the team’s ceiling still feels rather capped.
Read more: newsncarolina.com