NBA Playoff Obituary: End of an era for the Portland Trail Blazers

Now that the season has come to an end for the Portland Trail Blazers, it is time to write the obituary for the 2020-2021 season that was. Looking back on each team that made the playoffs will give a chance to look at what went right and what went wrong. It will also allow us to look ahead to what’s to come during the offseason to come.

Coming into the season with expectations led to disappointment for the Portland Trail Blazers. After another early exit, it is time for some tough choices.

After being one of the more active teams during the offseason, the Blazers entered the season hoping to rebound from an injury-riddled 2019-2020 and make a deep run. The core of CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic and Damian Lillard was primed to run it back and get the best finish to their season yet. So what exactly went wrong?

What Happened

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum expected this to be the season that they would be able to push their team over the top. Bringing Enes Kanter and Carmelo Anthony back into the fold. They traded for Robert Covington in the offseason and for Norman Powell at the deadline. It just was not enough.

McCollum got off to an electric start to the season and looked to finally make his first All-Star appearance. Over the first four weeks of the season, he averaged 26.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game on shooting splits of .473/.441/.844. He attempted 11 3-point shots per game, second only to Stephen Curry’s 11.1. Combined with the clutch dominance of Lillard, the Blazers were rolling.

Then McCollum got injured. The rest of the roster also dealt with a plethora of injuries and the Blazers found themselves on the road again in the first round of the playoffs. They finished the regular season with the second-most efficient offense in the league, falling just behind the Brooklyn Nets. However, the other side of the ball was another story. Portland finished with a historically bad defensive rating (115. 3). Their elite offense still resulted in a barely positive net rating, showing just how much they gave away. This recipe for disaster but them early and the heroics of Lillard (like his 55-point explosion in Game 5) were not enough to extend their season.

What Comes Next

Now comes the tough part. The Blazers made it clear that a deep run into the postseason would likely be needed for Terry Stotts to be brought back for another season. Someone has to be the fall guy and he seems to be the most likely to go. That in and of itself is drastic, given that Stotts has been with the team since 2012. However, that may not be the only domino to fall.

Enes Kanter, Carmelo Anthony, Harry Giles and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson all will be free agents this summer. Zach Collins will be a restricted free agent, Jusuf Nurkic is only partially guaranteed for next season and Norman Powell has a player option that is all but guaranteed to be turned down. Still, the Blazers will not have meaningful cap space so a trade feels to be the only option.

Breaking up the backcourt of McCollum and Lillard has long been a hot take column but the move finally feels imminent. The team has to get better to do right by Lillard and McCollum is the only player they can move to bring back reasonable value. Furthermore, they can use bird rights to bring Powell back to fit right in his role with some defensive upside that McCollum just does not possess. This could be the end of a delightful era of Portland Trail Blazers basketball.