After suffering a first-round exit a year after reaching the Western Conference Finals, the Portland Trail Blazers entered the shortened offseason with a clear goal in mind: surround their backcourt of All-Star Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, along with starting center Jusuf Nurkic, with more talent. Now, days before the start of the regular season, general manager Neil Olshey and the team’s front office were able to do that and more.

After a series of trades, free agent signings, and extensions to their own players, the Trail Blazers emerged as one of the offseason’s biggest winners, and seem primed to improve on last year’s 35-39 win-loss record and contend for one of the higher playoff seeds in the Western Conference. Among Portland’s recent additions are Robert Covington, Derrick Jones Jr., Enes Kanter, and Harry Giles, while also bringing back Rodney Hood and Carmelo Anthony.

Portland’s strong offseason surrounds Lillard with arguably the deepest and most talented supporting cast that he’s had, with a mix of promising young players and battle-hardened veterans. This gives the Blazers a chance to move up in the Western Conference despite other contenders also making moves in the offseason.

Here are four bold predictions for the Blazers’ 2020-21 season.

1. The Trail Blazers will have a top-15 defense

Asking the Blazers to play average defense may not seem like much, but the team is coming off a season where they finished near the bottom defensively, giving up an average of 116.1 points per game, which ranked 26th in the NBA, and a defensive rating of 114.8, which ranked 28th.

The addition of Covington brings the Blazers some much-needed defense into their starting lineup, while Jones Jr. and the returning Hood are also capable of guarding multiple positions. Losing center Hassan Whiteside will hurt, as he was the team’s rim protector who averaged a league-leading 2.9 blocks per game last season. But the addition of long, versatile wing players in Covington and Jones should be able to help the Blazers keep up with some of the league’s best players.

Covington, in particular, should be a good fit alongside Lillard and McCollum and will likely have the unenviable task of shadowing the opposing team’s best player. It’s a tall task, but it’s something with which the former Houston Rocket is familiar. Despite Whiteside’s departure, the addition of these players ensures that the team will show some improvement on defense next season after finishing the 2019-20 season as one of the league’s most porous defenses.

2. The Blazers bench will be much improved

Despite having one of the league’s best offenses, which scored an average of 115 points per game, ranking sixth in the NBA, and an offensive rating of 113.7, ranking third, the Blazers’ reserves didn’t actually do much to help Lillard, McCollum, and the starters. Portland’s reserves averaged just 26.5 points per game last season, tying the Boston Celtics for the worst mark in the league.

Their recent additions and the return of some of their key players from injury should help address this need and give some much-needed firepower to their bench. Anthony, who will likely come off the bench, averaged 15.4 points last season and should be able to help head coach Terry Stotts’ second unit. Kanter, who was a part of the Blazers team that reached the conference finals, averaged 8.1 points for the Celtics last season and now joins their bench.

Hood, who averaged 11 points before going down with an injury just 21 games into the season, should also give the team a lift once the starters take a rest. Young players like Gary Trent Jr., Anfernee Simons, Zach Collins, Nassir Little, and Giles also gives the Blazers a better overall rotation than last season, making sure that they can still keep up with other teams’ reserves once their starters take a breather.

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The Houston Rockets invested heavily into Fred VanVleet during the 2023 offseason. Houston gave the point guard a three-year, $128 million deal in a move that was meant to turn the Rockets from a rebuilding team into a championship contending one. The signing did just that, as the Rockets finished the 2024-25 regular season as the two-seed in a stacked Western Conference. VanVleet was the veteran presence and 3-point shooter that the team desperately needed, and he still might have a role with the Rockets going forward. Houston has a team option on his contract for next year, and they very well may pick it up. The Wichita State product reportedly wants to stay in Houston, but the point guard would be set to make over $44 million next season under his current contract. The Rockets and their guard recently pushed back the deadline on Houston's decision with VanVleet, and although reports suggest that they are interested in writing up a new, long-term deal, it isn't necessarily a guarantee that VanVleet will be playing for Houston next year. The Rockets blew him away with an offer he couldn't refuse back in 2023, and another team could so the same when/if he hits the open market this offseason. If VanVleet does become an unrestricted free agent, which teams outside of Houston would make the most sense for him to sign with? 1. Orlando Magic Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner recently signed big deals with the Orlando Magic, and Paolo Banchero will be getting a mega contract extension here soon. Because of that, the Magic no longer have money to blow like they have had in recent years. That will make a deal for another big ticket free agent hard to pull off, especially considering the team signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope last year. If Orlando can make the money work, though, then Fred VanVleet would be a great fit with the Magic. The Magic finished dead last in 3-point shooting this season, and VanVleet has made at least 2.5 deep balls per game in every season since 2018-19. VanVleet can hit shots form behind the arc off of the bounce or in catch-and-shoot situations. The Rockets were heavily reliant on his shooting expertise, so the guard would have plenty of familiarity getting up deep shots with high volume if he signed with the Magic. While undersized, VanVleet is a pesky defender, so he'd fit right in with a Magic team that has one of the best defensive units in the league. VanVleet could play alongside Suggs and give opposing teams fits. Ultimately, though, the Magic just need more shooting to get to the next level, and VanVleet is arguably the best shooter who could be available on the open market this offseason. 2. Brooklyn Nets A more realistic option for a VanVleet destination would be the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are set up to have the most cap space this offseason, and they have a major need at point guard. With D'Angelo Russell and De'Anthony Melton hitting free agency this offseason, the Nets don't have a true point guard under contract for next season. Brooklyn needs to spend big this offseason, and they'd be smart to offer VanVleet a contract big enough that he'd have no choice but to leave Houston. VanVleet averaged 14.1 points per game last season, which was his lowest mark since 2018-19. He is trending the wrong way, but he still has enough left in the tank to give the Nets a few good seasons. 3. Portland Trail Blazers In the same way that the Rockets were looking to take the next step in 2023, the Portland Trail Blazers could use VanVleet's presence to get over the hump. The Trail Blazers have plenty of big man depth, as centers Deandre Ayton, Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams, and Duop Death are all under contract next season. Portland also has a lot of wing depth. Deni Advija started to look like a star late this past season, Toumani Camara is an elite defender, Shaedon Sharpe is a freakish athlete, and Jerami Grant is a proven scorer. The team is thinner in the backcourt, though. Anfernee Simons is a solid scorer, but Scoot Henderson has looked like a fringe draft bust since being drafted third overall. Portland shouldn't give up on Henderson completely, but there wouldn't be any harm in signing another guard. Like the Magic, the Blazers were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA. VanVleet would improve that weakness, and in a stacked Western Conference, Portland needs all of the help they can get if they are to compete for a playoff spot.
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3. Damian Lillard wins the MVP Award

Lillard is coming off his best year since entering the league, averaging a career-high 30 points, 4.3 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 40.1 percent from beyond the arc. In the NBA bubble, with the Blazers playing behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth seed in the playoffs, Lillard elevated his game even higher, averaging 37.6 points, and 9.6 assists while shooting 43.6 percent from downtown during the seeding games as he helped Portland to a 6-2 record. The five-time All-Star’s play during the seeding games resulted in him being unanimously named as the Bubble MVP.

It’s unlikely that Lillard can sustain his ridiculous numbers during the resumption of last season in Orlando, but with the five-time All-NBA selection in his prime and playing the best basketball of his life, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in the thick of the MVP conversation. However, it appears the Lillard has once again slipped under the radar, as he was surpassed by the likes of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, and Stephen Curry in ESPN’s predictions for the MVP candidates.

But if Lillard continues to put up huge numbers, and the Blazers compete for one of the top four seeds in the Western Conference, the 30-year-old will be a strong contender for the MVP award alongside Doncic, James, and Antetokoumnpo. Doncic in particular seems to be primed to win the award in just his third season, but with Lillard playing the way that he has and having a supporting cast that can compete against almost any team and ensures that Portland will be firmly in the playoff race, it wouldn't be surprising to see Lillard take home his first MVP award.

4. Portland clinches the fourth seed in the West

ESPN predicted the Blazers to improve on their 35-39 record last season, projecting them as a 41-win team that should secure the sixth seed in the Western Conference and avoid the play-in tournament that they had to go through in the NBA bubble. The Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, and Utah Jazz were all placed ahead of the Blazers in ESPN’s projected standings.

However, aside from the Lakers, Clippers, and the Nuggets, a healthy Portland squad can go toe to toe with any other team in the Western Conference, especially if Lillard recaptures the deadly form that he flashed during the bubble. Barring injuries or chemistry issues, the Lakers and Clippers likely finish with the top two spots in the conference with a Nuggets team that is fresh from a trip to the conference finals likely to follow.

The rest of the spots, however, should be up for grabs, and it isn’t unlikely for a Blazers team teeming with talent and led by a motivated Lillard to compete and ultimately end up with one of the top four spots in the West and a homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.