The Portland Trail Blazers entered the 2018-19 season hearing noise from doubters about the viability of a Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum backcourt. Coming off a sweep by the 6-seed New Orleans Pelicans, change was suggested by outsiders. Instead, Portland opted to keep its core together — which includes head coach Terry Stotts — and this season, they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals.
Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report looked at the Blazers as a case for not blowing a team up and riding the consistency:
This time last year, Portland was coming off a disappointing first-round sweep at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans, just one year after being swept in the first round by the Warriors.