Portland Trail Blazers: Analyzing the official NBA 2K18 All-Time Team roster
NBA 2K18 has disclosed the full roster for their Portland Trail Blazers All-Time Team. It features players from across eras, but also several noticeable omissions.
NBA 2K18 continues to release information about the game’s features and rosters ahead of its Sept. 19 release date. One of this edition’s main selling points are its 17 new classic teams and All-Time Teams for all 30 franchises.
On Thursday, developer Visual Concepts released a trailer hyping the All-Time Teams’ inclusion. Following the trailer, the company then revealed all 30 teams’ rosters on their Facebook page. The Portland Trail Blazers‘ roster gained attention on social media not for who was on it, but for who wasn’t.
Eleven players that I guessed would be on the team in my all-time team prediction article made the cut. Kevin Duckworth, Rod Strickland, Isaiah Rider and Wesley Matthews round out the roster.
Fourteen of the 15 players on the team were available in NBA 2K17 in some capacity, be it on the official roster or in the MyTEAM team-building mode. Strickland is the one making his post-playing debut in 2K18. It’s his first 2K appearance since NBA 2K6. Kiki Vandeweghe was available in MyTEAM, but will be available to offline players for the first time.
The roster includes plenty of valuable Blazers. However, social media was alarmed by who didn’t make the team. This was an issue for almost every All-Time Team in the game, but the Blazers’ omissions were more noticeable.
Rasheed Wallace, whom we predicted would make his post-career 2K debut and start at power forward, is the most notable snub (though his omission is because he didn’t want to be in the game). Brandon Roy, Maurice Lucas, Mychal Thompson and Clifford Robinson also find themselves left out.
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Thompson’s and Robinson’s absence is a bit surprising. Both players were already in the game and made big contributions as Blazers. However, their absence can be chalked up to being crowded out by the other centers and power forwards on the team.
Rasheed Wallace’s lack of availability has bothered nostalgic hoops gamers for years. He was last in NBA 2K13 as a player. However, he has not been in the game since his retirement. NBA 2K16 saw the debut of the 2004 Detroit Pistons and 2000 Blazers classic teams. Wallace wasn’t on either roster.
Brandon Roy was a three-time All-Star that had his career cut short due to bad knees. He was last available in NBA 2K13. Roy has recently come back into the spotlight for his coaching success at the high school level. He received the 2017 Naismith National High School Coach of the Year award for leading Seattle’s Nathan Hale High School to a 29-0 record. Despite his notoriety and contributions as a Blazer, gamers won’t be able to relive those moments this year.
Maurice Lucas was a three-time all-star as a Blazer and a member of the 1977 championship team. Tons of fans were puzzled by his absence just as much as the other two. Unfortunately, he will not be in NBA 2K18 upon its release.
Missing legends is an unfortunate reality in the business of sports gaming. Visual Concepts may be unable to reach some players. But in a number of cases, there are some greats that simply don’t want to be in the game. The only thing fans can do is reach out to their favorite players and hope it will sway their opinion on getting in the game.
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The Portland Trail Blazers still have a formidable all-time team with the 15 players that are available. There is a great player from every Blazer era, which should remind NBA 2K18 players of the team’s illustrious history.