The Portland Trail Blazers have the worst future in the NBA

The Portland Trail Blazers are on pace to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2013. After trading longtime Blazer CJ McCollum, it looks like they are going to embrace the rebuild.

This is long overdue for the Blazers after suffering through painfully average seasons ever since they made the Western Conference finals back in 2019 where they were swept by the Golden State Warriors.

However, the Blazers’ future still doesn’t look all that pretty. While they are likely going to miss the playoffs, they are also only one game back of the play-in game, so there’s still a chance they sneak in.

The Portland Trail Blazers have the worst future in the NBA

Also, the first-round pick they got from the New Orleans Pelicans in the McCollum trade might not even convey The pick is top-four protected and will go back to the Pelicans if they jump up. That doesn’t seem so bad until you consider that if the Pelicans make the playoffs, the pick will end up going to the Charlotte Hornets.

Portland also owes their first-round pick to the Chicago Bulls this year. However, the Trail Blazers get to keep the pick if they end up in the lottery, which seems fairly likely.

Those are the only first rounds that need to be addressed since the rest of their draft capital is made up of their own picks. The only way they’ll further their rebuild with top picks is by tanking or winning the lottery, but neither of those seems likely.

The Trail Blazers still have Damian Lillard, who will always keep them in the playoff hunt. Anfernee Simons is in the midst of a breakout season and looks poised for a very solid career in the NBA. Rounding out the roster are Jusuf Nurkic, Josh Hart, and Nassir Little. This roster isn’t bad enough to get a high pick in the draft, but they aren’t good enough to contend for a title.

The Blazers are just stuck in the middle right now, and that is the worst place to be in the NBA. They aren’t getting high enough picks to impact their future, and they’re not good enough to win a playoff series. If the Blazers want to have a good future, they need to pick a direction – commit to a rebuild or try and get a star to pair with Lillard.

So, do the Portland Trail Blazers have the worst future in the NBA? If they stick with the supposed current plan, then they just might. The future in Portland is cloudy at best.