Kevin Pelton Ranks Portland Trail Blazers’ And Other NBA Teams’ Seasons

ESPN’s Kevin Pelton (subscription to ESPN+ required) has issued his grades for each NBA team now that the regular season has concluded, and the Portland Trail Blazers earned a respectable B:

The Blazers managed to go from the bottom of the West standings to an unlikely play-in push by virtue of their internal development. Forwards Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara emerged as building blocks, while Scoot Henderson showed important progress. One concern: the defensive improvement that helped earn coach Chauncey Billups and GM Joe Cronin contract extensions was built in part on poor opponent 3-point shooting. However, Portland also forced more difficult shots and ranked third in forcing turnovers over the final 41 games.

Seeing the phrase “internal development” may give some Blazers fans post-traumatic stress flashbacks stemming from the Neil Olshey era, but this past season was rightly about seeing young players grow. There is plenty of room to debate whether the development was as substantial as it should have been, but it’s undeniable that multiple players developed in a measurably positive direction.

Pelton also underlines one of the great question marks for the future: just how good is the defense? As with overall player development, I don’t think you can argue that the Blazers have NOT improved defensively. The caveats, however, are many. Pelton rightly points out that some of the late-season defensive numbers have been put up against opponents who were either resting their better players or had mailed in the season already. The eye test supports improvement, but Blazers fans should remember that we’ve seen so many seasons of really poor defense that the bar has been incredibly low. Even in 2018-19 when the Blazers made the Western Conference finals, the Blazers were 21st in the NBA in defensive rating. With all of the horrible defenses we’ve been subject to over the last decade, even mild competence seems like a revelation. In some ways, it is.

“B” seems like reasonable grade to this writer. What say you?

Looking at other teams, it’s hard to argue too much with the “F”s earned by the Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers. The New Orleans Pelicans “D” is perhaps a bit harsh considering all of the injuries they dealt with, while the Dallas Mavericks “D+” might be the most generous grade Pelton gave.

Lots of these grades are likely to seem ridiculous once the post-season has ended, but that’s what makes them interesting. Give us your thoughts on the Blazers season and how they stack up to other teams around the NBA.