The 2024-25 season for the Portland Trail Blazers has come to an end. Lots of ups and down. Lots of highlights and lowlights. But the biggest thing is we made significant progress on the identity of this team and still will land a decent lottery pick in a deep draft. The extension of Chauncey will be a big topic of conversation this summer, as well as, what we do with some of our guys i.e. Ant, Jerami, Ayton, Robert Williams, and a few of the contracts that have optional extensions. I would rate this season a success for the positive movement of this franchise and can’t wait to see how it continues in the Fall.
Game #80 - 4/9 @ Utah (113-126 L)
A battle between two teams not looking to win ended in an OT loss for the Blazers. Shaedon, once again, excelled in a game that was without Ant, Deni, Ayton, Jerami, and Scoot. This is great to see him take control of the scoring and leadership of the team. He’s known for his quiet demeanor, but this season he has really come out of his shell on the court: he’s scoring more, he’s being involved in more plays, and he’s seen interacting with the team more and more. Chauncey, once again, made some “tanking subs”, subbing out Shaedon and Toumani, for all of OT. It is in Portland’s best interest to lose these games for better draft position. It’s just tough to watch these games knowing they would’ve won the game if it were in the middle of the regular season, but with the playoffs out of reach, this decision making does make sense.
Game #81 - 4/11 vs Golden State (103-86 L)
A classic “last week of the regualr season game between a team that needs a win and a team that doesn’t want anymore wins” game. This is a pretty common phrase, for those unfamiliar. In short, the Warriors came to play and came to win. And win they did. Golden State played their normal starters and the Blazers only gave Toumani the nod from the normal crew. Yeah, Clingan started but on the depth chart (according to the team not me) he is not the starter if Ayton is healthy. Either way, each team got what they want out of this game, which is great! The game itself? Nothing to write home about. Clingan had a double-double (14/15) with Bari leading the way offensively with 19 points and Rayan Rupert following him up with 15 points. The Warriors had only one player on the court longer than 30 minutes, showcasing their point difference and desire to rest their guys for the season finale. Game 82 is on Sunday and it’s unclear how it’ll go with the Lakers having locked up the 3-seed.
Game #82 - 4/13 vs LA Lakers (109-81 W)
Welp. The Blazers boatraced the Lakers as they sat everyone relevant for the playoffs. Bronny James got his first start, scoring 4 points on 38 minutes (yikes). Maybe that’s a product of the Blazers defense or it’s just a classic rookie situation not having had that kind of playing time until a meaningless game to end the season. I think the biggest difference between these team’s lineups is that the Lakers traditionally have the same rotation and the Blazers have thrown in a number of guys to get 20+ minutes. Since the Lakers haven’t had much of that, I’d guess that’s why we had the outcome of this game. Either way, a win here isn’t the end of the world since we somehow lost to the Jazz at the beginning of the week.
Record: 1-2 (36-46)
Next Up: 5/12 NBA Draft Lottery