After a dumped season last year, a couple trades, draft picks and a confusing love-hate relationship with their loyal fanbase, the Portland Trail Blazers have reinvigorated a new hope for their fans with a rolling start to their season. 

For about their first 10 games, they were steadily at the top of the Western Conference, but injuries of star players such as Damian Lillard have led to a slight drop in team chemistry and, therefore, wins. That’s not to say that the team still plays well enough together on their own; players such as 19-year-old Shaedon Sharpe, 28-year-old Jerami Grant, and 23-year-old Anfernee Simons have shown great promise. Those are just a few of the names that have demonstrated great chemistry throughout the season thus far. 

As always, there are talks amongst fans, who firmly believe they own the team, about who is next to trade and who isn’t playing as well as they should. This season’s target as of now is Jusuf Nurkic, the starting center. In recent games, doubts of defensive ability have laid on his shoulders as he has clear difficulty guarding many relatively-average players. 

Even after a great start, the team has underperformed in their most recent games. Since starting their tour around the Eastern Conference, their offensive strategies, shot selection and individual skill have all seen a dip. Injuries continue to riddle the team as Lillard sees his second strain of the season, and Gary Paton II and Keon Johnson are both out due to minor injuries or precautions.

Upon the team’s return to their homeground, fans expect the playoff-bound team they saw at the start of the season. Good games to tune in to will be against the Utah Jazz, Miami Heat and especially the Miluakee Bucks and Boston Celtics. 

The biggest question at hand is whether the team will be able to pull itself together and get to the top of the Western Conference – like the good old days back in 2018 – or will they accept another bad season in an attempt to get a good trade and continue building the team for future seasons. 

Regardless, the team shows a young and promising potential thus far, and fans hope to see more from the team this season.