NBA: Ranking the teams in the Northwest Division for 2017-18

2 of 6

Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /

5. Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers had, perhaps, the most boring offseason in the division. However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t a formidable foe.

After slipping into the playoffs as the eighth seed last year and finishing with a 41-41 record, they didn’t have any wiggle room this summer as they were already at the luxury tax line. This forced them to make some moves they otherwise might not have.

To begin the offseason, they traded the 15th and 20th overall picks to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for the 10th selection. With that pick they grabbed Zach Collins, the stud rookie out of Gonzaga. They also nabbed Purdue swingman Caleb Swanigan with the 26th pick.

Later in July, they made the cap-saving move everyone was expecting when they traded Allen Crabbe to the Brooklyn Nets for Andrew Nicholson. A month later, they waived Nicholson.

Crabbe was a valuable player for Portland, knocking down a scorching-hot 44.4 percent of his three’s last year. However, they couldn’t afford to pay their sixth man $19 million a year. Gone was Crabbe’s massive contract and gone was their wing depth.

The Trail Blazers have some nice frontcourt depth with Jusuf Nurkic, Al-Faroug Aminu, Ed Davis, Meyers Leonard and Collins. If they can get quality minutes out of two or three of those guys, they will be able to push past .500 this year.

If not, they could be in for a long season. Well, at least they have two studs in Lillard and McCollum.