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Ranking the NBA’s small market teams

By Jonah Kubicek

Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurscredit (Robert Sullivan /AFP via Getty Images)
Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurscredit (Robert Sullivan /AFP via Getty Images) /
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Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers
Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

#7: Portland Trailblazers

This is the part of the list where we get into good NBA teams, regardless of market size. The Portland Trailblazers have had their fair share of bad luck. They drafted Sam Bowie instead of Micheal Jordan, Greg Oden instead of Kevin Durant, and Brandon Roy instead of healthy players like JJ Reddick or Rudy Gay.

They hit big with Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge, but they haven’t made a Finals since 1992, and haven’t won since 1977. The Blazers with one banner, as I call them. Thanks, Bill Walton! The Blazers seem to always have a great player. Walton, then Drexler, then the Jail Blazers, then Aldridge and Lillard.

The team is rarely horrible, and always has a share of talent, but the Western Conference is almost always the stronger of the two, and the Blazers just get absorbed into the “pretty good, but not great” category, along with the Mavericks, Jazz, and Suns. It’s pretty cool that they went all the way in their first-ever playoff appearance, but they never reached the top again. Thanks, Michael Jordan!