Portland Trail Blazers: 5 goals for the 2018 offseason
By Ty Delbridge
The Portland Trail Blazers are heading into the 2018 offseason, and it may be one of their most challenging ones yet in the recent future. The Blazers finished third in the Western Conference, but got swept in the first round of the playoffs.
The Portland Trail Blazers came into the 2018 NBA Playoffs with the seventh-best record in the league, home-court advantage and high expectations. They met the sixth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans in the first round and got dismantled entirely in a four-game sweep.
The Pelicans did a good job taking away the Blazers’ best players on the offensive end and pushing the pace and attacking Portland when it was on defense. The Pelicans’ four best guys were the four best players in the series. It shocked a lot of people to see Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and the entire Blazers team play so poorly when the games mattered most.
Heading into the offseason after a disappointing end to the season, there will be a lot of questions surrounding this franchise both on the court and in the front office. Marc Stein of the New York Times tweeted that Blazers head coach, Terry Stotts, could be on the hot seat after the team lost its 10th playoff game in a row. There will be talks that the Blazers should blow their team up and trade one of their stars to get more assets.
The fanbase in Portland is calling for and wants answers as to why their team is not more successful. Unfortunately, they won’t see anything until after the season is over. After listening to the Blazers exit interviews, it’s clear nobody has solutions just yet, and the front office is going to stay patient in its approach this summer.
With all that in mind, let’s take a look at five goals for the Blazers in the 2018 offseason.