Top 10 Portland Trail Blazers of All Time

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The Portland Trail Blazers are on the verge of wrapping up the 2012-13 season with a lot of personnel decisions to be made. The evaluation of the current roster is sure to lead to some painful decisions in the offseason as the team needs to strengthen its talent level, particularly the depth of talent and the need for a strong presence in the middle.

Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler, arguably the greatest player in Portland Trail Blazer history. He was also a member of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. (Photo: commons.wikimedia.org)

As the management and suits in the front office take a look at their current players, I am taking you on a journey through the history of the program. I have compiled my ranking of the Top 10 Trail Blazers of all time. The organization has a long and storied history of great teams and great players. I have compiled my own personal ranking of the Top 10 players in franchise history. Sorry, no Sam Bowie and LaRue Martin for you old school PTB fans that can appreciate my sense of humor.

10. Mychal Thompson (1978-86): Thompson was the No. 1 selection in the 1978 NBA Draft as the Trail Blazers, coming off a disappointing collapse at the end of the 1978 season and dealing with Bill Walton’s refusal to play, needed a center. He was selected to the 1978 All-Rookie Team after having averaged 14.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg. In 1979, Thompson averaged 2.2 blocks per outing. In 1981-82, he had his greatest statistical season averaging 20.8 ppg, 11.7 apg and 1.4 bpg. Unfortunately, the team missed the playoffs that year for the first time since their championship season of 1977.

9. Lionel Hollins (1975-80): Drafted by the Trail Blazers in the first round (sixth overall) of the 1975 NBA Draft out of Arizona State.

Clifford Robinson was the 1993 recipient of the NBA Sixth Man Award while playing with the Trail Blazers. (Photo: commons.wikimedia.org)

Hollins led the team to not only their first-ever playoff appearance, but an NBA championship in 1977. During the playoff run to the championship in 1977, Hollins elevated his game to 16.1 ppg and 5.3 apg. He was teamed with Walton and Maurice Lucas to lead the team to a 4-0 sweep of the heavily-favored Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. Hollins was not just a great offensive leader for the team, he was a defensive specialist. He was a two-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team (1978-79). Hollins had his number retired in 2007 by the Trail Blazers.

8. Clifford Robinson (1989-97): Clifford Robinson was drafted in the second round of the 1989 draft out of the University of Connecticut (36th overall). Robinson was a backup forward for the first four years of his career with the Trail Blazers to Jerome Kersey, winning the NBA’s Sixth Man Award in the 1992-93 season after averaging 19.2 ppg and 6.6 rpg off the bench. He became a starter in the 1993-94 season and was also selected to the 1994 All-Star Game. Robinson was a role player on the 1990 and 1992 teams that made it to the NBA Finals. Although he wasn’t a starter the first five years, he did play in all 82 regular season games each of those years. Robinson became one of the top small forwards in the league with the Trail Blazers averaging more than 20 points and six rebounds per game before being traded to the Phoenix Suns. Robinson would play a total of 18 years in the NBA and made it to the playoffs in all but one of those seasons.

Sidney Wicks was one of the lone bright spots for the Trail Blazers in their early years after an amazing collegiate career with the UCLA dynasty. (Photo: commons.wikimedia.org)

7. Sidney Wicks (1971-76): In the franchise’s infancy, Wicks was one of the lone bright spots. Drafted in 1971 out of UCLA with the team’s No. 2 overall pick, he laid the foundation for the Trail Blazers. In his five seasons with the team, he was selected to the All-Star Game four times (1972-75). He was the 1972 NBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 24.5 ppg and 11.5 rpg. Wicks once swiped 27 rebounds in a game and helped the team rise to prominence once Walton joined the team in 1974. Unfortunately for Wicks, he was sold to the Celtics in 1976 and missed Portland’s 1977 championship season. In his five seasons, Wicks averaged 22.3 ppg and 10.3 rpg and is a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

6. Rasheed Wallace (1996-2004): Traded to the Trail Blazers in 1996 from the Washington Bullets, Wallace is a player that really improved his game and developed into a great NBA player while maturing in his eight seasons with the franchise. In 1997, Wallace helped to guide the team back to the playoffs for the first time since 1989. He was also instrumental in leading the team to the Western Conference Finals in 1999 and 2000. He was a two-time NBA All-Star with the Trail Blazers, in 2000 and 2001. One of the most aggressive players in the NBA, even today, he made it very difficult for other teams in his tenure with Portland. His impressive 40 technical fouls in 2000-01 is a testament to his style of play, but did not take away from the fact that he was and still is a very good player. In his last three years with the team, Wallace averaged more than 19 ppg and 7.5 rpg, a significant improvement over his first few seasons.

5. Jerome Kersey (1984-95): A low-profile draft pick out of NCAA Division II Longwood, Kersey was picked by the Trail Blazers in the 2nd round of the 1984 NBA Draft (46th overall). Kersey became a starter with the team in 1987-88 and was a regular starter until the emergence of Cliff Robinson in 1993-94 as an All-Star. Kersey was a workhorse of sorts. In 1986-87 season, he played in all 82 regular season games, leading the league, despite only starting in eight of those games. Kersey would again lead the league in games played in 1989-90, starting all 82 games that year. He was a huge part of the Trail Blazer’s NBA Finals teams in 1990 and 1992. In the 21 playoff games of the 1990 Finals run, Kersey was particularly at his best, averaging 20.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg. At the time Kersey was traded to the Golden State Warriors in 1995-96, Kersey ranked as one of the franchise career leaders in numerous categories including: game played (second), rebounding (second), blocked shots (second), scoring (third) and steals (third).

4. Maurice Lucas (1976-80, 1987-88): The former Marquette star played two years in the ABA, and was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1976 ABA-NBA Dispersal Draft. Known as a bit of an enforcer, he was instrumental in helping, along with Walton, to lead the Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship. His elbow to the head of Darryl Dawkins at center court of Game 2 in the NBA Finals altered the momentum of the series and he led the Trail Blazers to a 4-2 Finals victory after the Trail Blazers dropped the first two games. That year, Lucas led the team in scoring and the franchise won its only championship in a season where they qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Lucas was a four-time NBA All-Star (1997, 1978, 1979, 1983) and has had his number retired by the franchise.

Portland’s all-time leader in assists., Terry Porter is one of the greatest players in Trail Blazer history. (Photo via commons.wikimedia.org)

3. Terry Porter (1985-95): Drafted in 1985 out of NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the first round by the Trail Blazers, he established, in his 10 years in Portland, the measuring stick by which all future point guards for the franchise would be measured. Porter became the team’s starting point guard after only one season and helped guide the Trail Blazers to two NBA Finals appearances in 1990 and 1992. Only Clyde Drexler has more career points with the franchise and Porter has the career records for assists. In the 1987-88 season, Porter set his single-season record for assists as he averaged 10.1 apg. During the 1992 playoffs, in leading the team to the NBA Final, Porter elevated his game to averaging 21.4 ppg and 6.7 apg and had 21 steals in 21 games. Porter’s number has been retired by the franchise and was a two-time NBA All-Star (1991, 1993). In 17 years, he played in 1274 games (18th all-time NBA) and had dished out 7160 career assists (13th all-time NBA).

2. Bill Walton (1974-78): In 1974, for the second time in the franchise early history, the Trail Blazers were the fortunate, or unfortunate (see: LaRue Martin), opportunity to have the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. With that pick, the franchise chose UCLA’s three-time college basketball player of the year and it was the most important turning point in their history. Walton was the 1977 NBA Finals MVP and he was the 1978 NBA MVP. It was Walton’s dominance in 1978 that gave the team an incredible 50-10 start that season. A foot injury, one that would ultimately plague his entire career and was the catalyst for his refusal to stay with the team, ended that season for Walton. The team limped into the playoffs that year after having gone 8-14 without him. Walton, unhappy, wanted a divorce and sat out the entire 1978-79 season and finally signed as a free agent with the San Diego Clippers. It would take years for the franchise to recover.

1. Clyde “The Glide” Drexler (1983-95): Drexler was drafted in the first round of the 1983 draft, after declaring himself eligible for the draft after his junior year at the University of Houston. Drexler made 10 NBA All-Star Games and was a member of the 1992 Olympic gold medal Dream Team. Drexler helped lead the franchise to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. His all-around greatest statistical season was the NBA Finals team of 1992 when he averaged 25.0 ppg, 6.7 apg and 6.6 rpg. No player in franchise history ever meant as much to the success of the program. Drexler is the all-time franchise leader in numerous categories including games, scoring, rebounds and steals. Drexler is still ranked in the top 10 in NBA history in steals. Drexler was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.