The break for the NBA All-Star has come and gone, and the playoff race starts for real for the Portland Trail Blazers as the season enters its final stretch. The team starts the second half on a solid basis, after a good finish on the pre-break schedule. While the rest of the list is daunting, including 12 games against teams currently in the top four of their respective conferences, Portland should be encouraged by the return of stars Jusuf Nurkic and CJ McCollum from injuries.
Today, we examine three main stories to watch as the Blazers look to do the postseason for the eighth year in a row.
Stay Healthy
The biggest move to Portland is certain to be the imminent return of McCollum and Nurkic, who have been out since mid-January due to injuries. While the team, led by MVP candidate Damian Lillard, performed admirably in his absence, there is no doubt that Portland will need the pair back and fought to have any chance of a playoff race.
It will be interesting to see how long it will take for Nurk to adjust on his return to the court. He had a slow start to the season and was just starting to find a rhythm before breaking his wrist against the Indiana Pacers on January 14. While he is unlikely to continue where he left off – assuming he will be able to return to the court in the coming weeks – he will have plenty of time to put himself under his control before the playoffs begin in mid-May.
McCollum, on the other hand, was playing the best basketball of his career before breaking his foot two days after Nurkic’s injury. CJ will probably be able to make a more immediate impact, although it is worth monitoring your mobility. If he can continue to kick the ball the way it was before the injury, Portland will add an All-Star player back to the mix.
Rotation changes
With the return of Nurk and CJ, several players will see their roles change, and some will be greatly reduced. Enes Kanter is a likely candidate, as he averaged 30 minutes per game during the month of February as Portland’s only healthy center. That number will certainly drop, but the big man is yet to play an important role outside the bank, especially if Nurkic is slow to find a rhythm at the start.
Other players, like Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little, are likely to play much more sparingly due to the return of McCollum, who will likely return to play more than 40 minutes a night. Young people have shown splashes of success with their minutes elevated, so it will be curious to see if coach Terry Stotts finds a way to put them on the floor, despite a more busy rotation. If he chooses to do so, veteran Rodney Hood’s regular minutes can be cut off entirely.
Gary Trent Jr., on the other hand, will face a different challenge. Although his minutes are likely to slow down a bit, the biggest adjustment for him will be fewer attempts to kick with McCollum’s return, as well as a return to the sixth man role. He will need to be more selective with the shot and will have less ball in his hands. It is up to him to be able to adjust to his old role, now that he had the taste of the spotlight. This adjustment will have a critical factor in Portland’s hopes and success in the playoff.
Deadline
The Blazers have made a fuss over the past two timeframes, although it looks like things may be a little calmer this time around. With a rotation already packed and few mobile assets, it will be interesting to see if the team decides to stay on until the March 25 deadline. Portland has been in discussion by players like James Harden, DeMarcus Cousins and Blake Griffin this season, although it is unclear exactly how serious they were for any of these players.
It seems unlikely that Neil Olshey will not go, at least to explore opportunities to further improve the team. However, the best bet may be just to see how far the current group can go when totally healthy, rather than making a change just to shake things up.
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