Portland Trail Blazers: 2015-16 Season Outlook
2015-16 Roster
Cliff Alexander, F
Al-Farouq Aminu, F
Pat Connaughton, G-F
Allen Crabbe, F
Ed Davis, F
Tim Frazier, G
Maurice Harkless, F
Gerald Henderson, G
Chris Kaman, C
Meyers Leonard, F-C
Damian Lillard, G
C.J. McCollum, G
Mike Miller, F (expected to be waived)
Luis Montero, G
Mason Plumlee, F-C
Phil Pressey, G
Noah Vonleh, F
Offseason Additions
Cliff Alexander (free agent-undrafted), Al Farouq-Aminu (free agent-Dallas), Pat Connaughton (draft-day trade, 41st overall), Ed Davis (free agent-Los Angeles Lakers), Maurice Harkless (trade-Orlando), Gerald Henderson (trade-Charlotte), Mike Miller (trade-Cleveland), Luis Montero (free agent-undrafted), Mason Plumlee (trade-Brooklyn), Phil Pressey (free agent-Boston), Noah Vonleh (trade-Charlotte)
Offseason Subtractions
Arron Afflalo (unrestricted free agent-New York), LaMarcus Aldridge (unrestricted free agent-San Antonio), Nicolas Batum (trade-Charlotte), Steve Blake (trade-Brooklyn), Joel Freeland (unrestricted free agent-Russia), Alonzo Gee (unrestricted free agent-New Orleans), Robin Lopez (unrestricted free agent-New York), Wesley Matthews (unrestricted free agent-Dallas), Dorell Wright (unrestricted free agent-China)
Quick Thoughts
As you can tell from the subtractions section, the Blazers lost quite a bit of firepower this summer. Their best player is gone, their best interior defender is gone, their best three-point shooter is gone, their versatile glue guy is gone and one of their sixth men (Afflalo) is gone too.
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That being said, you can make out signs of promise from this roster. Not for this season, of course, but if Olshey was going to turn away from the present in favor of the future, swapping Batum for the 20-year-old Vonleh was a great move. Vonleh failed to earn minutes in Charlotte last season and is still unproven, but his potential as a stretch-4 is there to be tapped.
Still, with Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard being the most recognizable faces returning from last year’s roster, you can be guaranteed it will be a rough 2015-16 campaign for this younger team. The focus now will be determining which of those inexperienced pieces deserve to be long-term fixtures to surround Lillard with.
Next: Storyline: How Good Can Lillard Be?