Plenty of reasons for excitement in Portland

2. New faces

The Portland Trail Blazers did make it to the Western Conference Finals, but they got swept for the third straight year after running into teams that exposed their weaknesses. The Blazers lacked elite shooters or playmakers in the backcourt and on the wing besides Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

That made it hard when defenses would double or even triple-team the stars and leave other guys open who would not be able to score. So after a few years of the same faces, changes were made this summer.

Maurice Harkless, Evan Turner and Meyers Leonard were all traded. Jake Layman signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Al-Farouq Aminu signed with the Orlando Magic. They also let Seth Curry leave after one year and Enes Kanter, who signed halfway through last season and was a crucial part of the playoff run, went to the Boston Celtics.

But the Blazers made some big moves to fill their needs

Portland traded for Kent Bazemore from the Atlanta Hawks. Bazemore, at 6’5″, can play both shooting guard and small forward. He is an athletic 3-and-D wing and that is precisely what this team needed. He is on an expiring deal, so he will be looking to prove himself on a new team and in a contract year.

Bazemore will likely start the season coming off the bench, backing up Rodney Hood and McCollum.

Probably the most significant move of the summer for the Blazers was trading for Hassan Whiteside from the Miami Heat. Whiteside is one of the best shot blockers in the league and will have a chance to revitalize his career in Portland. This team will be without their starter Jusuf Nurkic for a bit, so Whiteside will immediately slide into that starting center role.

He has been known as kind of an immature, lazy player, but he has shown plenty of times during his career that he can impact a game like nobody else. The Blazers will hope that the leadership of Lillard and coach Terry Stotts will help get the most out of Whiteside.

The Blazers made three other small moves, but they could turn out to be impactful during the season. They signed veterans Pau Gasol and Anthony Tolliver to minimum contracts. Going into year 19, Gasol will mostly bring leadership and his experience to help teach the young guys. Tolliver will see more time because he does one thing extremely well — shoot the 3-point shot.

Another move the team made was adding Mario Hezonja. The former lottery pick has played on some bad teams during his career and has never gotten a chance to live up to his draft status. He now joins a winning organization that will put him in spots to exceed. Hezonja will have the opportunity to play and maybe have his best season as a pro. He is still only 24 years old.