Portland Trail Blazers: 3 bold predictions for 2018-19 NBA season

By Simon Smith | Sep 25, 2018

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 30: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers and CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the national anthem before the game against the LA Clippers on January 30, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /

After capitulating in the first round of last season’s playoffs, here are three bold predictions for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2018-19.

Having worked all season to gain home-court advantage for the opening round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers were simply humiliated. Swept 4-0 at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans, this represented a major disappointment coming off a 49-win season in a brutal Western Conference setting.

Once again, the Blazers were led throughout the regular season in large part by the dynamic duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Not only did Lillard place fifth in MVP voting, he also made his debut appearance on the All-NBA First Team. For his part, McCollum was again one of the most productive 2-guards in the league, which featured hitting a career-high 189 triples.

However, while they made the postseason for the fifth consecutive year, last season represented the second straight year in which they were swept in the first round.

Immediately following their playoff debacle, Lillard and McCollum addressed the media:

"Getting swept in the first round is never ideal, it’s never something you want to experience, but it’s what happened. We have to learn from it, find ways to improve individually and then collective come back and put it together as a team." — @CJMcCollum pic.twitter.com/faryxVs7Jy
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) April 22, 2018

Returning with much the same nucleus, this Trail Blazers’ roster will naturally come out desperate and with a point to prove in order to put their recent playoff woes behind them.

With this in mind, here are three bold predictions for the 2018-19 season.

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