For as much success as the Trail Blazers had in the regular season (49 wins, No. 3 seed in the West), a first-round sweep in the playoffs — thanks to the Pelicans — might make it difficult to call this past year anything but a disappointment.
But don't tell anyone on the roster that.
Al-Farouq Aminu: “Good season. We were the third seed, which is something we should not forget. And then the playoffs ... this was a wake up call.” pic.twitter.com/9TaQzrSife
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) April 22, 2018
This appeared to be the general sentiment from players and staff members during the Blazers' exit interviews on Sunday. Sure, the playoff loss was tough to swallow, but the team felt like it made a jump in the regular season.
President of basketball operations Neil Olshey was particularly defensive of this past season.
"This (result) was so extreme, I don't want to overreact to one unfavorable matchup against a team that played outstanding basketball," he told reporters. "We're not going to lose sight of the success we had this season.
"Where were all these people who wanted sweeping changes 10 days ago? They were the ones bouncing off the walls 10 days ago when we had the third seed for the first time since 1999-2000."
He had a point. The Blazers were the talk of the league for much of 2018 with Damian Lillard performing like a top-five player every night and Portland rattling off one of the longer winning streaks of the season.
MORE: Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts' job at risk after sweepOlshey added that there aren't any roster moves that could be made to magically change the success of the team.
"Everyone wants to say there's some magical free agent," he said. "There's an incredible trade. There's a draft pick who's going to revolutionize your franchise."
But this is where a little disagreement comes in. Evan Turner, Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard were signed to expensive long-term contracts two summers ago, resulting in a lack of cap flexibility for the team.
Even one of the recipients of these contracts believes the Blazers could use more depth.
Evan Turner on what the Blazers are missing: "That’s tough to say honestly. We definitely all have to be more consistent. One thing that may help as well ... no jabs or anything, but building an identity outside of our two strong scorers." Says depth would help in playoffs.
— Joe Freeman (@BlazerFreeman) April 22, 2018
While there are plenty of questions to be answered before next season, the one thing that is clear is that the backcourt duo of Lillard and CJ McCollum will not be broken up.
CJ McCollum on questions about pairing with Dame: “People have to write about something, so that’s a good narrative. But you have to be realistic. We lost to the best team in the league the last two years. A lot of teams would like to have 5 straight trips to the playoffs.” pic.twitter.com/1NJUP56oSO
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) April 22, 2018
Neil Olshey on the Dame-CJ pairing: "When 27 teams aren't jealous of our backcourt, that's when I'll start looking at it."
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) April 22, 2018