Damian Lillard leading the Portland Trail Blazers back to playoff contention in a crowded Western Conference is not a consensus sentiment among NBA media. A 32-year-old Lillard has willed Rip City to relevance since 2014, but unanswered rotational questions and contract situations paint doubt in the minds of those looking at Portland’s prospects this season.
John Hollinger of The Athletic went in depth on Portland’s transactional ebbs-and-flows, which in his mind, have mostly neutralized each other to leave the Blazers in a “muddle in the middle.” On one hand, after a roster reshuffling, Hollinger wrote the Blazers are in a better spot than this time last year.