The Blazers are 6-1 as of November 4. The club leads the NBA’s Northwest Division and has the DNA to win an NBA championship for the first time in 50 years. That makes Portland a franchise worth following.
Before we get to where they are today, let’s take a walk down memory lane and look at how the franchise has done over the years.
Courtesy SI Covers
The Portland Trail Blazers are a very interesting NBA franchise, established in 1970. They missed the playoffs in their first six seasons, then won the Finals in their seventh. Bill Walton led them then, and it looked like he’d have a bright future in Portland until foot problems set in. Those problems limited him to only 58 games the next season, his one MVP season, and kept him out for the entire 1978-79 season. He averaged 17.1 points per game over his career with the Blazers. Walton signed with the San Diego Clippers for the 1979-80 season, and Portland lost its first big star.
Clyde! (photo courtesy of Blazers Edge)
Portland did not make it past the second round of the playoffs for the next 12 seasons. Then came another Finals berth. This time, they had a star guard named Clyde Drexler. Drexler was different from Walton. Nicknamed “The Glide,” he was known for his athleticism and ability to finish at the rim. He averaged 20.8 PPG over 12 years with Portland. Drexler averaged 23.3 PPG and earned an All-Star selection in the 1989-90 season, when Portland made the NBA Finals. There, they faced Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boy Pistons. The Pistons won in five games. Clyde Drexler averaged 26.4 PPG, but it just wasn’t enough.
He had a chance to return to the big stage the next season, but the James Worthy-Magic Johnson-led Lakers cut that chance short. Vlade Divac’s free throws pushed LA to a 91-88 lead with 43.3 seconds left. Portland hit one more shot to make it 91-90. After a shot-clock violation by LA, Portland had the ball with 12.3 seconds left, down by one. Then a missed jumper ended it.
Portland didn’t stay down for long. The very next season, they were back in the Finals, this time facing Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. The media quickly turned it into a direct comparison between Clyde Drexler and Michael Jordan, and Jordan didn’t care. Six games later, the Bulls stood victorious. Still, Drexler averaged 24.8 PPG, and Terry Porter averaged 16.2 PPG. The duo wasn’t enough to stop MJ’s 35.8 PPG on 52.6% shooting. Scottie Pippen also averaged 20.8 PPG.
Wallace to the rim (photo courtesy of From Way Downtown)
Six seasons of first-round exits followed. Then, Midway through the 1994-95 season, Portland traded Drexler and Tracy Murray to the Houston Rockets and received Marcelo Nicola, Otis Thorpe, and a 1995 first-round pick. That sparked the third era of winning Trail Blazers basketball with Rasheed Wallace and Arvydas Sabonis.
Wallace arrived in Portland via trade before the 1996-97 season. He immediately became one of their most dangerous players with his scoring and ferocious defense. Sabonis’ path to Portland was a bit more interesting. The Atlanta Hawks originally selected Sabonis in the fourth round of the 1985 draft, but the league voided the pick because he was under 21. That pick later changed hands several times: the Boston Celtics traded it to the LA Clippers alongside Cedric Maxwell, and the Clippers later traded it to Portland. In return, the Celtics received Bill Walton, while LA received Darnell Valentine and a 1988 second-round pick. Portland drafted Arvydas Sabonis with the 24th overall pick in the 1986 draft. He began his professional career in Lithuania, his home country, before spending the next eight seasons there and in Spain. He debuted for Portland at 31—the ultimate Euro-stash player.
Wallace and Sabonis led the Blazers to two consecutive Western Conference Finals appearances. The 1998-99 season ended in disappointment after Tim Duncan, David Robinson, and the San Antonio Spurs thrashed them 4-0. Sabonis averaged 9.5 PPG that series and shot 33.3% from the field, while Wallace performed much better, averaging 20 PPG on 50.8% shooting.
The 2000 Western Conference Finals was a much closer series. Portland added Scottie Pippen and Steve Smith in the offseason via trades with the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks, respectively, and the new lineup pushed the Lakers hard. Wallace averaged 23.3 PPG, Smith averaged 18.3 PPG, and Pippen averaged 15.1 PPG.
They took it to a game seven at the Staples Center in LA. The Blazers led most of the game until the fourth quarter. They were outscored 31-13 as Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal each scored nine points in the quarter. That brought Bryant’s total to 25, and O’Neal’s to 18, with four blocks as well. Portland shot 5-for-23 in the fourth and lost by five.
The team failed to achieve significant playoff success for the next 18 seasons, so I’ll mention the “Jail Blazers” era before moving on to the next season. The term was first popularized around the 1996-97 season because of the growing number of legal issues and controversies surrounding the team. Here are some of them.
Rasheed Wallace – Had 41 technical fouls in one season (NBA record)
Damon Stoudemire – Had multiple Marijuana possession citations
Darius Miles – Tried to bring a loaded gun through airport security in his carry-on (not during his playing career, but I had to mention it because it is hilarious and he did play for Portland during this era)
Bonzi Wells – Was fined and suspended multiple times for confronting coaches
Zach Randolph – Broke Ruben Patterson’s eye socket during a practice fight
Ruben Patterson – Raped his family’s nanny
Qyntel Woods – Involved in dogfighting.
Dame! (photo courtesy of The Fader)
What a time to be a Blazers fan! The good news is that after that stretch, the franchise was back on track. Portland finally made it back to the Western Conference Finals in 2018-19, this time headlined by superstar PG Damian Lillard. The team drafted Lillard in 2012, and he made an immediate impact, winning Rookie of the Year with 19 PPG. Unfortunately, that didn’t translate into wins.
The Blazers then made the playoffs for eight straight seasons, headlined by Damian Lillard and another star guard, CJ McCollum. He entered the league in the 2013-14 season but didn’t break out until 2015-16, when he jumped from 6.8 PPG to 20.8 PPG and won the Most Improved Player award. That playoff streak included the 2018-19 season.
In the Western Conference Finals, Lillard led the team in scoring with 22.3 PPG on an inefficient 37.1% from the field, and McCollum was close behind with 22 PPG on a slightly better 39% shooting. Their center, Meyers Leonard, also had a surprisingly good series, scoring 17.7 PPG on 60% shooting.
Alas, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Blazers. Golden State took the series in four games. Stephen Curry averaged 36.5 PPG on 46.9% from the field and 42.6% from three. Klay Thompson added 21.5 PPG on 37.9% from the field and 34.4% from three, and Draymond Green scored 16.5 PPG on a solid 54.2% from the field.
But then, it was over. Over the next seven seasons, three playoff appearances ended in first-round defeats, and Lillard left Portland for the Milwaukee Bucks before the 2023-24 season.
Portland’s overall historical record includes three Finals appearances, four Western Conference Finals appearances, and one championship in 56 seasons.
Now, Portland looks promising for the first time in years. Dame returned to the Blazers in 2025 after Milwaukee waived him following an Achilles tear. Back in June, Ja Morant was traded to Rip City from Memphis for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. He played well as a third scoring option before straining his hamstring in October. Deni Avdija looks to continue his All-Star level play this season after breaking out in 2025-26 with 24.2 PPG, up from 16.9 PPG the previous season.
The Trail Blazers aren’t typically on national NBA fans’ radar, but this year could be different. Next up is an NBA Cup Group game vs. the Lakers. You can watch it on Prime Video at 10 PM Eastern on Friday night, November 6.
