Today’s Portland Trail Blazers look a lot different than just four-and-a-half months ago, when they were swept out of the Western Conference Finals by the Golden State Warriors.
Neil Olshey has decided to make wholesale changes around Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, adding wings Kent Bazemore and Mario Hezonja, bringing in veteran stretch-four Anthony Tolliver, retaining mid-season acquisition Rodney Hood, and filling the Jusuf Nurkic sized hole in the middle with splashy stop-gap center Hassan Whiteside.
There are probably more preseason questions facing this team than any Blazers group since the 2015-16 season, when the team had to contend with the loss of LaMarcus Aldridge and the resulting roster overhaul.