Trail Blazers: Eighth Seed in the Western Conference or Tank?
The Portland Trail Blazers will be in a dilemma if things do not change soon.
As 2016 closes tonight, the Portland Trail Blazers are almost done with half of their season and sit 5.5 games out of seventh place in the Western Conference. It’s also worth noting that Portland is 1.5 games out of eighth place. An eighth place finish in the West means that a battering by the ‘super team’ Golden State Warriors waits.
blazers
Rip City Project 1 dDamian Lillard Listed as Doubtful Again vs. Spurs
More headlines around FanSided:
2d - Rookie Report: Jake Layman2d - Portland Trail Blazers Season Shaping Up Very Similar to Last2d - Reactions from Game 32: Sacramento Kings at Portland Trail Blazers2d - Highs and Lows: Sacramento Kings' Win Streak Ends In Portland3d - Preview: Kings @ Trail BlazersMore News at Rip City Project
Knowing that it’s quite an uphill battle to even earn a seventh seed in the West, is an early exit in the playoffs even worth it? Or – should the Trail Blazers do their best to ‘tank’ for a higher draft pick?
Fans were faced with this dilemma last year around this time as well. Of course, it ended up being a memorable playoffs appearance for the young Portland roster. However, if things don’t change quickly for the Trail Blazers, it might be in their best interest to trade away a useful piece or two to a contender, give the younger players some minutes, and earn a higher draft pick.
The Trail Blazers are not in the best position to tank. Normally, young rosters in the NBA are not this expensive. Even if Portland got rid of a couple players to lower their salary, it would be very tough for General Manager Neil Olshey to bait teams into taking Evan Turner or Allen Crabbe off Portland’s hands. Olshey payed this roster handsomely to win now, not be the most expensive tanking team in history. It could get very tricky and likely ugly for Olshey if trades are made to tank and cut salary.
Unfortunately, Portland has to go for it. They should not have a problem earning the eighth seed, but for any success at all, they need to finish higher. Given how the Spurs handle the Blazers virtually every time, a 5th or 6th seed is needed. Fortunately, teams 5-7 in the Western Conference are not running away from the Trail Blazers. However, it will still take a massive defensive improvement for Portland to run off a second half of the season like last year.
More from Rip City Project
This article originally appeared on 
