In a strange turn of events, the Portland Trail Blazers find themselves in possibly the most competitive division in all of basketball. All of their rivals appear to have made big strides towards improving their teams and overall direction.
Last year, the Northwest division combined for a league best 242-168 record. That number projects to go up even further with the upgrades made to each roster outside of Oklahoma City.
The Utah Jazz fully committed to their window of contention by making a trade for Mike Conley. This move answered their long search for a true floor general capable of taking the pressure off Donovan Mitchell and easing Rudy Gobert into a rim running role.