{"id":35304,"date":"2020-11-27T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=35304"},"modified":"2020-11-26T10:52:34","modified_gmt":"2020-11-26T15:52:34","slug":"portland-trailblazers-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/11\/27\/portland-trailblazers-free-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"Portland Trailblazers’ Offseason Propels Team to Contender Status"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Portland Trailblazers<\/a> <\/strong>made key moves in Free Agency to upgrade its overall roster. Damian Lillard<\/a><\/strong> firmly asserted himself into the superstar stratosphere, averaging a career-high 30 points and eight assists on 46.3 percent shooting and 40.1 percent from three. The 29-year-old carried a team ravaged by injuries to the eighth-seed last season.<\/p>\n

Despite his impressive year, the Blazers finished the season with a 35-39 record and were assisted by the pandemic to get to the playoffs. Making the post-season was a nice achievement but getting there with a sub-500 record is nothing to write home about.<\/p>\n

Portland was an elite offensive team posting a sensational 113.2 offensive rating (third) but gave it all back defensively leaking 114.3 points per game (27th).<\/p>\n

Portland Trailblazers’ Offseason Propels Team to Contender Status<\/h2>\n

General Manager Neil Oshley had a plan and executed it beautifully. Let’s grade Oshley’s deals.<\/p>\n

Robert Covington\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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The Rockets are finalizing a trade to send Robert Covington to Portland for Trevor Ariza and 2020 first-round pick and 2021 protected first-round pick, sources tell ESPN.<\/p>\n

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 17, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n