The first few games are in the books for the Portland Trail Blazers, and the warning sirens are already echoing up and down the Willamette Valley. The severe injuries to Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic have depleted the front court on what was supposed to be a title contender.
At first glance, there is not a lot wrong. Sure, every opponent outside of Oklahoma City has scored over 100 points, but opponents are only shooting 44.6 percent from the field, which is only 18th best in the NBA. The woeful three-point defense seems to also be a bit of a myth, with opponents shooting 34.