This isn’t the Portland Trail Blazers team that I came to know and love from afar during the Golden State Warriors’ dynastic run. The Blazers used to have an undersized and plucky backcourt led by All-Stars Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, with a bruising center named Jusuf Nurkic banging in the paint. That was their Big 3 and the driving force behind the team making the 2019 Western Conference Finals before the Warriors swept them out.
Now? McCollum has been shipped out to New Orleans, Lillard is recovering from abdominal surgery in January, and Nurkic is going to miss time per NBA.