The Portland Trailblazers ended last years excellent campaign on a sour note. Even though they upset the Denver Nuggets in seven games, they were embarrassed by the Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals.

The team has made some tweaks to its roster in hopes of making an even deeper playoff run.

The face of the franchise Damian Lillard spoke on the revamped roster and the renewed depth:

“I feel pretty good. I think myself, CJ, Nurk will be healthy at some point this season, Hassan, Bazemore, bringing Hood back … Zach (Collins) I’m excited about … Zach and Ant (Anfernee Simons) these guys have a huge summers in front of them. If they can have big summers and come back they can really have an impact on our team, they can really be what can make us take that next step, especially with what we’ve added. I think even though we lost a lot of guys, we’ve picked up some really good talent, guys who can do things that we haven’t had, so I’m excited about it.”

The Blazers biggest added piece was Hassan Whiteside, who is expected to give the team a lift with Jusuf Nurkic out for the foreseeable future. Adding Kent Bazemore and resigning Rodney Hood also were solid moves for Portland.

Lillard is now the richest player in NBA history.

Look for him to come out of the gates hot in an effort to show the world he is worth the price tag, and that the Blazers can win with him as their best player.