| Last Season: | 21-61 |
| Preview prediction: | N/A |
| Oddsmakers: | 25-57 |
Yesterday's NBA Blog Preview featured last year's league-worst Portland Trail Blazers, and it comes from Henry Abbott at TrueHoop, who is trying not to set expectations too high:
- 20-25 wins is what will happen if the team progresses, but without any pleasant surprises
- 25-30 wins is likely. I mean, come on, with all these promising young players, it would be bizarre not to have any pleasant surprises.
- 30-35 wins is real progress, and means at least some of the team’s recent gambles (for instance Jarrett Jack at point guard full-time, Zach Randolph’s improved mobility, Martell Webster, Jamaal Magloire) must be hitting paydirt.
- 35-40 wins, with this roster, would be the equivalent of winning the championship. They should have a parade. People should shave their heads or something. That many wins, at this stage of franchise development, means the Blazers are on the fast track to the promised land.
If this team wins 35-40 games, they'll deserve a parade, but they certainly won't get one from their current fan base. Portlanders were undoubtedly spoiled by the team's remarkable success throughout the past 30 seasons (see chart below). The Walton-led Blazers won in it all in 1976-77, and then made the playoffs in 25 of the next 26 seasons before entering their current rebuilding phase.
The good news, as Henry notes, is that the team has a lot of upside. You can question some of their recent moves (as the ESPN NBA team did repeatedly on draft night), but it's obvious that they have fully embraced the idea of rebuilding—usually a necessary first step on the road to recovery.