• Coming into training camp, the Trail Blazers’ most important task before the start of the regular season was to make changes to their defensive principles with the goal of becoming a much better team on that end of the floor than they were in 2019-20. Players like Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr. were acquired in the offseason in large part because of their defensive prowess, but changes to the basics of the system they’ve been running since Terry Stotts took over as head coach back in 2012 were also an important part of the improvement plan.
But after four preseason games, it’s a bit difficult to tell what progress has been made.