NBA Insider Identifies Key Weakness as Trail Blazers Potential Achilles Heel This Season

Dec 26, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (00) celebrates with small forward Deni Avdija (8) after making the game-winning basket against the Utah Jazz at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images | Soobum Im-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers are hoping to return to the playoffs this coming season, after a four-year gap. Is that even possible?

Yes, Damian Lillard is back in the fold, having inked a three-year free agent deal this summer. Although he'll likely be shelved for most or all of 2025-26 while recovering from an Achilles tendon tear.

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The Trail Blazers' defense started to round into form halfway through the 2024-25 season. All-Defensive Team forward Toumani Camara served as the fulcrum for Portland on that end of the hardwood.

Their offense, however, appeared a bit more limited, as guards Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, and Scoot Henderson didn't really complement each other on the court. Forward Deni Avdija became Portland's best contributor on that side of the ball.

Per Zach Kram of ESPN, that offense is the biggest question mark ahead of the club's campaign this year. Simons has been swapped out for Jrue Holiday, who's a great supplemental shooter and a far better defender, even at age 35.

"Portland is a team on the rise after a strong finish to the 2024-25 season and a go-for-it summer that brought Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard to Portland," Kram writes. "With a frontcourt of Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan, the Trail Blazers could boast one of the best defenses in the league."

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"But will Portland score enough to push into the playoff picture?" Kram wonders. "One underrated concern is Portland's penchant for turnovers: The Trail Blazers coughed up the ball on 16% of their possessions this past season, which ranked 29th; for context, the other teams in the bottom five in turnover rate were the Jazz, Nets, Hornets and Wizards, arguably the four worst teams."

Although Simons was more of a score-first guard, he displayed impressive ball control.

"Making matters potentially worse is that the Blazers traded Anfernee Simons, who had the best assist-to-turnover rate on the team," Kram writes. "With Lillard unlikely to return this season, the Blazers will have to rely on Scoot Henderson to generate a lot of their offense. Out of 30 point guards with at least 1,000 minutes and an above-average usage rate this past season, Henderson ranked 29th in turnover rate, according to Stathead, ahead of only Russell Westbrook."

For more news and notes on the Trail Blazers, visit Portland Trail Blazers on SI.