Portland Trail Blazers: 3 things to watch for in 2017-18 season opener

1. C.J.’s suspension

While it may just be a single-game suspension, the punishment that C.J. McCollum received for leaving the bench area during the altercation between Len and Swanigan was absolutely ridiculous. As McCollum put it: he’s receiving a punishment that’s even more severe than that of Swanigan and Len.

Additionally, McCollum’s suspension was concerning an action done during a preseason game, an action for which the punishment will now be affecting his regular season appearances. It makes little to no sense why the league would go ahead and make this a bigger deal than it actually was.

So now the question is: how will the Blazers fare without McCollum in their season opener, and will this incident hopefully force the league to reevaluate how they reprimand such a minuscule action as taking a few steps away the bench area during a preseason altercation?

Next: 2017-18 Week 1 NBA Power Rankings

Whatever the case, the Blazers sure are starting the regular season in the most entertaining way possible.