Portland Trail Blazers rumors aren’t positive for the team right now. The Las Vegas oddsmakers have just predicted that the Blazers will miss the 2018 NBA Playoffs. Not only that, but Vegas is saying that the Blazers will finish below .500 on the season. With a current over/under of just 40.5, there isn’t a lot of confidence coming from the NBA experts at this point.
During the 2016-17 NBA season, the Blazers finished with a 41-41 and the No. 8 seed in the NBA Playoffs. The team got matched up with the Golden State Warriors in the first-round, though, which resulted in a quick four-game sweep.
Now the Blazers will return with a lot of the same players for the 2017-18 NBA season, but with a healthy corps ready to exceed expectations.
Have the Blazers improved during the NBA offseason?
The Blazers did make a bold move during the 2017 NBA Draft by packaging two first-round picks to move up in the draft order. With the No. 10 overall selection, the Blazers drafted Zach Collins out of Gonzaga. Zach Collins averaged 10.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. He also shot 65.2 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from three point range. Collins played just one season at Gonzaga but received rave reviews during workouts.
Portland Trail Blazers rumors reveal that the coaches have had a lot of positive things to say about Collins during practices and workouts with the teams.
That bodes well for him playing heavy minutes for the team during the 2017-18 NBA season. If he can play a significant role off the bench, then the Blazers should easily be able to overcome that Las Vegas prediction of just 40.5 wins next season.
Is the Blazers' roster good enough to make the NBA Playoffs?
With a corps of Damian Lillard, C.J.
McCollum, a healthy Jusuf Nurkic, and now Zach Collins, the Portland Trail Blazers might actually be pretty good this season. The team will need to gel quickly in order to make a move in the Western Conference standings, and within the division, the Oklahoma City Thunder improved by adding Paul George in a trade with the Indiana Pacers.
A small piece of good news is that the Utah Jazz will be worse after losing Gordon Hayward to the Boston Celtics.
There will be a lot of hopeful Blazers fans to open the 2017-18 NBA season, especially if the front office can keep this roster intact. With Allen Crabbe coming off the bench, Evan Turner back from surgery, and Jusuf Nurkic on the team for a full season, the Blazers might be a real threat in the 2018 NBA Playoffs. Can the Portland Trail Blazers overcome the negativity from NBA experts?
