Portland Trail Blazers: 5 reasons they miss the playoffs in 2017-18

Here are five reasons the Portland Trail Blazers could end up missing the playoffs in the upcoming 2017-18 NBA season.

The Portland Trail Blazers have made four consecutive appearances in the NBA Playoffs, and no one should expect the the 2017-18 season to be any different.

While the Blazers did end up starting their year with a preseason loss courtesy of the Phoenix Suns this past Tuesday, there were a number of positive takeaways from that game that are worth discussing — chief among them being the result of having a healthy Jusuf Nurkic anchoring the team.

But that presents a particular problem: Nurkic is so central to Portland’s newfound success that removing him from the equation can prove detrimental to the team’s system. We saw that last year when the team hobbled its way into the playoffs and suffered a first-round sweep — albeit at the hands of the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

So with that in mind, let’s dive into a list of five reasons the Portland Trail Blazers could possibly end up missing the 2018 NBA Playoffs.