Despite an underwhelming 2021-22 season in the absence of star point guard Damian Lillard (abdomen), the Portland Trail Blazers are expected to be competitive in their upcoming 2022-23 campaign. Lillard’s return and the highly-anticipated arrival of forward Jerami Grant, as well as some in-house development, could spell success in the Western Conference.
How much success exactly? That, of course, remains to be seen. It is August after all. However, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Kevin Pelton expect Portland to be among teams going “all-in” on making it to the second round of the NBA Playoffs.