Who’s the Best All-Around Player in Portland Trail Blazers History?

Portland Trail Blazershistory is replete with glittery stars, from former Rookie of the Year Geoff Petrie to current All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard. The best players come to mind easily, their posters having decorated the walls of Blazers fans for five decades or more.

We’ve talked plenty about those dreamy superstars at Blazer’s Edge throughout the years. We’ve run down stats, heralded big moments, even defined eras by them.

But listening to Sirius/XM’s NBA Radio this morning, I heard a question that we’ve not asked in the whole history of the site (at least not that I can recall). The hosts were running down the best all-around, or two-way, players of all time. Names like Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Jason Kidd came to the fore.

No Trail Blazers were mentioned as such in the overall list, but Portland has had some pretty decent all-around players as well. Critically, the list of best all-around players in franchise history is going to differ significantly from the list of best overall players, as several of Portland’s most glittery stars were known more for offense than defense.

So we’re going to ask the question today, keeping the slate completely blank. If you had to name the best all-around player in Portland Trail Blazers history, what name (or names) come to mind? You can give us a list if you want, but make sure you nominate just one as your overall choice. Will you recall players everyone else has forgotten or is there an obvious candidate for the award?

Share your thoughts, memories, and players in the comment section below!