The Portland Trail Blazers have had a horrific 2023-24 season by almost every metric, managing to put up some of the worst numbers the team has seen in just under 20 years.
According to ESPN, out of the 30 teams in the NBA the Blazers currently rank 29th in points per game (107.8 PPG), 25th in rebounds per game (41.7 RPG), 30th in field goal percentage (43.5 FG%) and 30th in assists per game (22.5 APG). As of press time, the Blazers have a record of 13-33 this season, or just over a .39 win/loss ratio.
This puts them on track to have their fourth-worst – and uncomfortably close to their second-worst – season of all time. As the NBA playoffs approach, it is extremely unlikely that the Blazers will make it even with the recently changed system in which 20 teams – rather than the historical 16 – qualify for the bracket. Currently, the Blazers sit as the second-worst team in the west, and the 5th worst overall; even a good comeback would barely allow them to play as the worst team there, likely being one of if not the first eliminated.
As these numbers reflect, it is needless to say that most fans are not just unhappy with the team’s performance this season. The Wolf interviewed Tualatin High School students who have followed – and unanimously been disgusted by – the Blazers’ season thus far. Some students were particularly frustrated with rookie point guard Scoot Henderson.
“I think Scoot Henderson needs to step… up, because he is playing like dog water” one student said. “You can’t say you need to be drafted above Wembanyana if you’re gonna play like some third round draft pick.”
“[The Blazers are] paying [Henderson] all these millions to start like a new franchise player in Oregon, but you can’t even play good,” he added. “All this time and all this hype for what?”
Others expressed frustration with the team as a whole.
“I’m done watching this team be… bums,” another student said. “They gotta step it up.”
The Blazers’ decision to trade Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks in the fall of ‘23 and CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans in early ‘22 is proving to be one that has yielded nothing but grief, with most fans left in shock at or wondering what concessions and new players they even got out of the trades.
The best news to come from this season is that by placing among the worst teams in the league, the Blazers will have a better chance at next season’s draft to pick an upcoming star, and potentially turn the team’s steep downhill trajectory around in the future.
