Four years removed from a trip to the Western Conference Finals, the Portland Trail Blazers have become yet another example of how quickly life changes in the NBA. Following yesterday’s league-altering three-team trade — which saw Portland part ways with Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkiu0107, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson — only a single player remains from that 2019 group, prompting a new chapter for the franchise.
Bolstered perennially by compete-with-anyone-caliber backcourts (i.e. Lillard-McCollum and Lillard-Simons), some have suggested that the largest — literally — and final piece to the Blazers’ championship contention puzzle was finding the LaMarcus Aldridge-level, low-post presence to accentuate their style.