The Portland Trail Blazers finished their 2023-24 season yesterday with their 61st loss, leaving them in last place in the NBA Western Conference, tied for third worst in the entire league.
After trading All-NBA guard Damian Lillard in the off-season, the Blazers were destined for a rebuilding year. Under a wash of injuries, intermittent execution, and suffering through a young and unprepared bench pressed into heavy-duty action, they wilted. Watching them in the second half of the season held all the charm of eating a raw artichoke.
Rebuild or no, it was not supposed to be this bad.