The first edition of Marc Stein’s NBA power rankings was released just a few weeks before training camp is set to begin. Stein’s first edition of the rankings focuses on how good a team’s summer was and the current injuries on their roster.
The Portland Trail Blazers came in ranked 17th in this first edition of the rankings.
The news we presume Blazermaniacs most want to hear — that Jody Allen has agreed to sell the team to longtime Nike impresario Phil Knight — has not yet materialized. The Blazers were as busy as they could be apart from a sale with the re-signing of Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons to new deals and the acquisitions of Jerami Grant and Gary Payton II, but the West looks so much deeper now that it’s difficult to see Portland avoiding missing out on the playoffs for a second consecutive season.