Portland Trail Blazers’ Offseason Priorities

ThePortland Trail Blazers“星期一晚上末尾的赛季被扫过Golden State Warriorsin the first round of theNBA季后赛。在令人失望的开始之后 - 并通过“开始”，我的意思是常规赛的前三分之二 - 将它们放在11场比赛的低点下.500（24-35），燃烧器已经集结了促进季后赛41-41记录。

虽然大部分赛季都是一个失望的，但在中期收购后的强烈完成Jusuf Nurkic.should give Blazer fans some hope for next season. On Monday,Josh Martin of Bleacher Reportwrote his analysis of what Portland needs to do this offseason. He listed five different things the Blazers should do if they want to climb the Western Conference standings next year.

The first is “Get Jusuf Nurkic Up to Speed.” Martin cites Nurkic’s stats with Portland (15.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.9 blocks per game) and adds this:

在2月23日之前的贸易截止日期之前，从丹佛开始后，没有任何靠近比赛簿的完全掌握。

"I'm really happy I come in a right place," Nurkic told NBA.com's David Aldridge at the beginning of the month. "I think I'm a perfect fit here, and how it show right now, how it looks."

The last thing the Blazers want, though, is for their newest big man to fall into their long, painful lineage of injury-riddled bigs. If Nurkic can avoid that, Portland might have itself the frontcourt cog it's long sought to line up next to Lillard and McCollum.

Martin’s second point is “Keep Tightening the Screws Defensively.” He points out that the Blazers fell from 20th in defensive efficiency (105.6 points allowed per 100 possessions) in the 2015-16 season to 26th (108.9) before the Jusuf Nurkic trade. After the trade, however, their rating improved to the 12th-best mark during that span (105.7).

Sustaining that improvement may be all the Blazers need to make the leap from lower-tier playoff participant to bona fide Western Conference contender.

So long as Lillard and McCollum are at the controls, Portland shouldn't have any trouble scoring points. A top-half defense could be the perfect complement to put the Blazers among the NBA's best.

Next, Martin examines Portland’s salary situation. He addresses the depressing fact that the Blazers are in line to have the highest payroll in the NBA next season.

Their roster will soar well past the projected luxury-tax line of $121 million, but team owner Paul Allen (net worth: $20.1 billion, perForbes) can afford the bill if he chooses.

No matter how deep Allen is willing to dig into his pockets, Portland's front office will be hard-pressed to add talent without carving out some long-term flexibility. Nixing Festus Ezeli's non-guaranteed $7.73 million for 2017-18 would only begin to scratch the surface.

Fortunately for the Blazers, they have some chips they can deploy should shedding salary become a priority. They have their own first-rounder to spare along with the Cavaliers' selection and the Memphis Grizzlies' pick (via Cleveland to Denver), which they netted in the Nurkic trade. They also have several future second-rounders due from other teams.

The fourth item in Martin’s list is “Sort Through the Frontcourt.” He writes, “If Nurkic is a sure thing up front, Portland will have to determine which of its remaining forwards and pivots fit best next to him, Lillard and McCollum in the rotation.” Martin mentionsMeyers Leonard最容易被感动。除此之外,Blazers will have to figure out the best rotation for Al-Farouq Aminu,Evan Turner,莫里斯哈克,Noah Vonleh， 和德戴维斯。

马丁的最后一点是“思考后葫芦”。虽然Lillard和McCollum暂时结束了赛季，但他们的防守留下了很多需要的措施。马丁认为波特兰可能需要考虑从其中一个人继续前进的样子。

As important as it is in today's outside-in NBA to have perimeter players who can put the ball in the hole from all over the floor, it may be even more critical to have guards who can, you know, guard.

Portland's cap crunch only adds to any consideration of a split between Lillard and McCollum. Can the Blazers afford to allocate such a huge share of their resources to two players with such similar skill sets?

Maybe they can, and maybe they will. If nothing else, it would behoove them to see what Lillard and McCollum can accomplish over a full campaign with Nurkic in the middle. But now might be the time to at least consider the possibility of a future with just one of the two Rain Brothers.

总体而言，马丁对波特兰下赛季的前景具有非常乐观的观点。他似乎认为，拥有一个健康的Nulkic一个全赛季可能足以让西装外套朝着西部会议的顶端移动。看看他full article, here.

What do you think, Blazer fans? What would your offseason priorities for the Blazers be?