The Portland Trail Blazers are 69 games into the 2021-22 NBA season, ensconced in the 12th position in the Western Conference with a 26-43 record. All of the team’s major players aside from Josh Hart are on extended recovery from various injuries. The Blazers now field a roster of players who excite more speculation about the future than hope for the present. They run out a roster mixed with young players on limited contracts and veterans playing for the league minimum, or close to it.
The Blazers won’t do this forever. Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkic, and Hart will presumably return next season, ready to go.