Jack Winter Articles - Page 55

Joe Cronin made it abundantly clear on Thursday during his introductory press conference as the team’s interim general manager: Changes are coming for the Portland Trail Blazers, likely sooner than later. Players who signed new contracts in free agency become eligible to be traded on December 15th. The deadline for in-season trades comes and goes […]

The Portland Trail Blazers held a news conference on Thursday morning introducing longtime front-office executive Joe Cronin as the team’s interim general manager. Sitting next to Chauncey Billups and newly-minuted team president Dewayne Hankins, Cronin answered questions about the Blazers’ uncertain present and future with thoughtfulness, candor and humility that’s long been missing from the […]

The Portland Trail Blazers lost their fourth straight game by double-digits on Wednesday, falling 104-94 to the Golden State Warriors. Even with Steph Curry, pointedly eyeing the league’s all-time record for made threes, and his teammates mostly throwing up bricks from deep, Portland never had a realistic chance at pulling off a shocking late-stage comeback. […]

The Portland Trail Blazers fell to the Golden State Warriors 104-94 at Chase Center on Wednesday, their fourth straight loss by double figures. Fortunately for Chauncey Billups’ woefully depleted team, though, much-needed reinforcements are on the way — perhaps the next time Portland takes the floor. After the game, the Blazers’ rookie head coach was […]

Damian Lillard has never made a secret of and has no reason to apologize for a looming desire to maximize his earnings to their utmost extent before his playing days are finished. Despite increasingly massive annual salaries, all superstars with crossover appeal who single-handedly drive sustained team success are underpaid relative to the revenue they […]

The Portland Trail Blazers’ next general manager won’t just have Damian Lillard’s present and the team’s long-term trajectory to consider when charting a new path forward for an organization that’s clearly reached a crossroads. Whoever succeeds Neil Olshey will be tasked with navigating the fraught nature of a contract extension for the best player in […]

Jusuf Nurkic did all he could to account for the absences of his team’s two leading scorers on Monday night. Unfortunately for the depleted Portland Trail Blazers, it just wasn’t enough to get Chauncey Billups’ crew a much-needed victory. Portland fell to the Los Angeles Clippers 102-90 at Moda Center, its third straight home defeat […]

Damian Lillard has already refuted a report from The Athletic about his mounting frustration with the Portland Trail Blazers amid team-wide on-court struggles and the dismissal of longtime general manager Neil Olshey. These mfs love drama too damn much. https://t.co/ej15TkAybZ — Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) December 6, 2021 As he reiterated on several occasions over a chaotic, […]

Chauncey Billups, in an increasingly common postgame refrain during the season’s early going, saved his harshest criticism for Portland Trail Blazers’ starters after a dispiriting blowout loss. The bench was a lone bright spot for Portland in its ugly 145-117 loss to the short-handed Boston Celtics on Saturday night at Moda Center, an especially damning […]

The Portland Trail Blazers aren’t exactly responding well amid mounting injuries and organizational upheaval. Chauncey Billups’ team was never all that competitive in a 145-117 loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday night at Moda Center, a second straight home defeat that was over long before the final buzzer. Even Portland’s excuses for another ugly […]

The Portland Trail Blazers fired Neil Olshey on Sunday, just short of a month after the team launched a probe into allegations that he fostered a toxic, hostile working environment. Olshey’s reign as general manager in Rip City comes to an end after nine seasons, the last eight of which the Blazers have made the […]

Regardless of when the investigation into allegations of Neil Olshey fostering a “toxic” workplace was finished, Jody Allen almost certainly wasn’t going to find a better time to fire the Portland Trail Blazers’ longtime general manager than Friday morning. The Blazers included no conclusions from that probe in their announcement of Olshey’s dismissal, simply specifying […]

If Thursday’s game proves a harbinger of their play to come while Damian Lillard is sidelined by abdominal tendinopathy, the Portland Trail Blazers’ season could very well be at risk of going off the rails. The San Antonio Spurs came to Rip City and throttled the depleted Blazers, 114-83, in a game every bit as lopsided […]

Chauncey Billups touched on the pitfalls of Damian Lillard’s abdominal tendinopathy well before it was officially announced the Portland Trail Blazers superstar would be sidelined for at least the next 10 days. Lillard was clearly more affected by his nagging core injury than normal during Portland’s blowout loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday. He […]

The Portland Trail Blazers will be without a pair of key contributors for the immediate future. Damian Lillard, who missed Tuesday’s win over the Detroit Pistons due to lower abdominal tendinopathy, will be re-evaluated in 10 days while continuing to receive treatment, the team announced on Wednesday. Making matters worse, ascending third-year forward Nassir Little, […]

Tuesday night’s blowout win over the rebuilding Detroit Pistons ended a three-game losing streak for the Portland Trail Blazers, moving them to an even 11-11 over a quarter into the regular season. Reasons for Portland underperforming preseason expectations are numerous and varied. Damian Lillard’s career-worst slump to tipoff 2021-22 finally dissipated only for his nagging […]

The Portland Trail Blazers didn’t need their franchise player, third-leading scorer or most impactful reserve to get a blowout victory on the second leg of a back-to-back Tuesday night, beating the Detroit Pistons 110-92 at Moda Center. C.J. McCollum led Portland to its wire-to-wire win, scoring 28 points and doling out six assists, both team-highs. But […]

The Portland Trail Blazers were outclassed by another Western Conference contender on Monday night, falling to the Utah Jazz 129-107 at Vivint Arena. An additional defeat on the road moved them to 1-10 outside Moda Center and 10-11 on the regular season overall, good for 10th-best in the Western Conference. Utah was better than Portland […]

Norman Powell will miss his third game of the season on Monday night, sitting out against the Utah Jazz due to a right quad contusion. But instead of ascendant wing Nassir Little taking his place in the Portland Trail Blazers’ starting lineup, Chauncey Billups has opted to open with veteran Tony Snell on the perimeter […]

The Portland Trail Blazers survived the worst slump of Damian Lillard’s career in large part due to the individual brilliance of CJ McCollum. Portland’s “other” star guard played like an alpha dog when his team needed it most, picking up Lillard’s slack en route to averaging 23.8 points and shooting 44.2% on nearly 10 3-point […]

If Friday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors was a test of their ability to compete with basketball’s best teams, most every indication suggests that the Portland Trail Blazers failed. The league-leading Warriors beat the Blazers 118-103 at Chase Center, using a balanced scoring attack and dogged team-wide defense to send Portland to another […]

The Portland Trail Blazers’ 125-121 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday wasn’t just demoralizing because of their stagnant, disorganized late-game offense. It wasn’t just frustrating due to the surprise absence of Richaun Holmes or fourth-quarter ejection of De’Aaron Fox, either, making the Kings yet another short-handed foe to beat the Blazers. Failing to avenge […]

The Portland Trail Blazers woke up on Thanksgiving day at 10-9, alone at sixth in a loaded yet inconsistent Western Conference. Chauncey Billups’ team has at least somewhat righted the ship after a chaotic, discouraging start to 2021-22, and there’s ample reason to believe the Blazers’ best basketball awaits as they grow increasingly comfortable operating […]

The Portland Trail Blazers come up short on the second leg of a back-to-back on Wednesday night, falling to the Sacramento Kings 125-121 at Golden 1 Center Chauncey Billups’ team squandered the chance to not just win its fifth straight game, but come within percentage points of fourth place in the Western Conference after a […]

Less than 10 days after an “embarrassing” blowout loss in the Mile High City, the Portland Trail Blazers got some much-needed revenge against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, beating Michael Malone’s woefully depleted squad, 119-100. The Blazers can only play who’s in front of them and hardly need to apologize for one of their best offensive […]

It took Damian Lillard over a full month into 2021-22 to be named Western Conference Player of the Week for the first time. What a slacker. The Portland Trail Blazers superstar earned the honor after leading his team to a perfect 3-0 record last week, averaging 28.1 points and 8.3 assists per game with a […]

The Portland Trail Blazers beat the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers 118-111 on Saturday night at Moda Center, stringing together three straight wins for the first time this season behind a dominant performance from Damian Lillard. Convincing double-digit victories would obviously be the most ringing endorsement of the Blazers’ long-shot title hopes. But a trio of consecutive […]

The Sacramento Kings didn’t search very long or far to find a new head coach. Less than two hours after news of Sacramento dismissing Luke Walton first made the rounds on Sunday, reports emerged that the team has named current assistant Alvin Gentry as interim coach. Kings have tabbed Alvin Gentry as the next coach, […]

It certainly seemed like Damian Lillard had fully broken out of his early-season slump on Saturday night. The Portland Trail Blazers superstar dropped 39 points and seven assists in his team’s hard-earned 118-111 win over the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers, dominating from the opening tip. Lillard scored 12 points and hit a pair of 3s in […]

All summer long, Neil Olshey appealed to the strength of the Portland Trail Blazers’ starting lineup as a major reason for optimism in 2021-22. Chauncey Billups parroted those talking points almost immediately upon being named Terry Stotts’ successor. When Media Day finally came in early September, multiple players extolled the virtues of Portland’s opening quintet, […]

Jusuf Nurkic was instrumental to the Portland Trail Blazers’ thrilling 112-107 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night at Moda Center, playing arguably his best game of the season. The Bosnian Beast had 18 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, exploiting a Bulls squad that often went small while […]

Damian Lillard is slowly but surely breaking out of the worst slump of his career. The Portland Trail Blazers superstar is averaging 24.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists in his last five games, shooting 47.1% overall and 39.1% on a high volume of threes. Maybe those numbers don’t reflect Lillard’s MVP-level peak, but they […]

The Portland Trail Blazers earned a much-needed 118-113 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, emerging from a furious, back-and-forth battle in the fourth quarter for an impressive victory on the second night of a back-to-back. A lot went right for the Blazers from the friendly confines of Moda Center when they needed it […]

The Portland Trail Blazers were outclassed in the early going against the lowly Houston Rockets on Friday. Three days earlier, they trailed the LA Clippers by double-digits less than three minutes after tipoff. And on Sunday versus the depleted Denver Nuggets, Portland fell behind 24-8 in the first quarter, never coming closer than nine points […]

The Portland Trail Blazers entered Sunday’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets at 6-7, that relative success coming in spite of Damian Lillard enduring the longest slump of his career. Playing without their injured superstar against Nikola Jokic and company, though, nonetheless proved a reminder of just how reliant the Blazers remain on their best player—apparently both […]

Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joe Haden left his team’s game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday with a foot injury and will not return. UPDATE: #Steelers CB Joe Haden (foot) has been downgraded to OUT for today's game. https://t.co/FGUiGwq8fo — Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) November 14, 2021 The veteran suffered the injury in the second quarter. He […]

Portland Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey has no plans to step down amid an internal investigation into his workplace conduct, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic. Olshey, according to a source, is not interested in making a deal or a buyout settlement and is fighting for his job amid accusations he […]

The Portland Trail Blazers, coming off consecutive losses to Western Conference playoff hopefuls, badly needed a victory against the bottom-dwelling Houston Rockets on Friday night. But their 104-92 win over the Rockets at Toyota Center was about much more than breaking a two-game losing streak. Portland ended a six-game stretch of road losses to open […]

It only took six tries and facing a team that had lost its last nine games, but the Portland Trail Blazers finally got their first road win of the season on Friday night, beating the Houston Rockets 104-92 at Toyota Center. Don’t mistake the Blazers’ much-needed victory away from the friendly confines of Moda Center […]