There are a couple of important differences between the Portland Trail Blazers and the just-covered Raptors, and hardly any of these provide aid for Rip City’s greater odds.
The Blazers were thin last year, buttressing a elite beginning five with next to nothing off the bench. Bringing in Chris Kaman and Steve Blake doesn’t feel as a great remedy.
Of course, second-year guard C.J. McCollum needs to see his role increase this season, and he has the combo-guard skills to make an impact. Head coach Terry Stotts seems to be leaning toward him as a sixth man; McCollum led all Blazers reserves in minutes per game during the preseason.
For all this, it’s difficult to grasp why Portland is viewed as a larger name threat than Toronto. The Blazers’ convention is harder, their bench is still thinner and they finished the year at only 23-19 after a start. Portland is a fantastic group, but it may not be much more than that.
It’ll be up to Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge and the rest of the starters to duplicate that fifth-ranked offensive evaluation. If they can not do this, imagine defense and also an abysmal chair may finally hit one of last year’s biggest surprises with a painful dose of truth.

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