Portland Trail Blazers: 40-1

There are a couple of key differences between the Portland Trail Blazers and the just-covered Raptors, and hardly any of them offer aid for Rip City’s better chances.
The Blazers were lean last year, buttressing an elite starting five with next to nothing off the seat. Bringing in Chris Kaman and Steve Blake does not feel as a remedy.
Of course, second-year guard C.J. McCollum needs to see his role increase this year, and he has the combo-guard abilities to make an impact. Head coach Terry Stotts is apparently leaning toward him as a sixth man; McCollum led all Blazers reservations in minutes per game during the preseason.
For all this, it’s difficult to grasp why Portland is seen as a bigger name hazard than Toronto. The Blazers’ conference is tougher, their bench remains thinner and they finished the year at just 23-19 following a red-hot start. Portland is a good team, but it may not be much more than that.
It’ll be around Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge and the remaining starters to duplicate that fifth-ranked offensive evaluation. If they can not do this, suspect defense and an underwhelming chair may finally hit among last year’s biggest surprises having a painful dose of reality.