National Basketball Association

Trail Blazers Placed at #9 in ESPN's Power Rankings

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Trail Blazers came in two spots below a division rival on ESPN’s power rankings

ESPN’s Marc Stein released his first edition of the 2016-2017 NBA power rankings on Friday morning. The Portland Trail Blazers made a jump versus their finishing position last year. However, they were not the top team in the Northwest division.

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The Utah Jazz were ranked #7 on the power rankings – two spots ahead of Portland. The Oklahoma City Thunder dropped to one spot below the Trail Blazers at #10. Rounding out the Northwest Division – the Minnesota Timberwolves earned a #16 ranking while the Denver Nuggets dropped to #26.

A couple weeks ago, we discussed how the Thunder were listed as clear favorites according to Las Vegas NBA championship odds. Now, it looks the Utah Jazz love-fest is in full force.

In his write-up about Rip City, he questions how much General Manager Neil Olshey improved the team this offseason:

The Blazers made a lot of experts look foolish in 2015-16, so maybe they’ll do it again, but expectations might be rising too quickly in the Pacific Northwest. How much help did Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Terry Stotts really get?

Portland fans will not like to see Utah ahead in the rankings. Sure, they are deeper and finally have a decent point guard – But we are still talking about a core that has yet to make the playoffs. Gordon Hayward is a nice player. Unfortunately, he does not exactly strike fear in opponents.

After reading several previews/rankings of the Northwest Division, one thing is for sure: It will be an incredibly competitive division.

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