Portland Trail Blazers: 3 candidates for a breakout season in 2019-20

2. Zach Collins

Portland moved on from their starting power forward, Al-Farouq Aminu and would not have done so if they didn’t think Zach Collins could step up and fill his role.

He has been the backup power forward and center the last two seasons and has shown plenty of times he is ready for a more significant role.

The Blazers traded up into the top-ten of the 2017 NBA Draft to select Collins and now that he is going into this third year, its time for him to prove he was worth it.

Collins is still only 21 years old but is going to be asked to step up, even more, this year with Nurkic out for a while. He and Whiteside are going to be a fierce duo to score on down low.

At 7’0”, not many big guys in the league have the skill and athleticism like Collins. He can protect the rim, rebound, space the floor as a 3-point shooter and score down low in the post.

Last season, per 36 minutes, Collins averaged 13.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from the 3-point line.

Collins has tools to be one of the best defensive players in the league and he showed that in the playoffs with a three-block game, four-block game and a five-block game. He was one of the bright spots in the playoffs for the team and that is one of the reasons he is on this list.

Collins knows how to step up his play when the games matter, and hopefully, he can bring that same energy as a full-time starter.