The Portland Trail Blazers’ 2021-22 season has been an exercise in futility. The silver lining in an otherwise-dismal showing has been the chance to audition an entire roster of new players, filling in for injured and resting veterans as Portland pursues lottery dreams. Portland fans are far more familiar with Brandon Williams, Ben McLemore, Greg Brown III, and Keljin Blevins than they ever expected to be.
Realistically few, if any, of the “New” Blazers will return next season. Portland appears poised for another run with Damian Lillard at the fore. That will require veterans stacked around him, the antithesis of the current roster.