As part of his series previewing the 2021-22 NBA Season, John Hollinger of the Athletic ran down the prospects for the Portland Trail Blazers today [subscription required]. The review ends up in the middle, neither glowing nor hopeless. The big question for Hollinger, and ultimately for the Blazers, is whether “in the middle” is good enough.
Hollinger began his lengthy piece by recapping Portland’s 2020-21 season, featuring terrible defense, injuries to stars CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, and a brilliant, season-saving offense headlined by All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard. He also mentioned the secret sauce that allowed the offense to be so productive: attempting more shots than any other team in the league.