5 Best Rip City Teams of All Time

52 Seasons of Portland Trail Blazers Basketball

The Trail Blazers archive (NBA Blazers official site) lists rosters and seasons referenced below.

Rip City teams define Portland basketball across five decades. Welcome to the 5 finest Portland Trail Blazers squads of all time. Portland fans measure every roster against these Rip City teams. I’m likely to blend up this checklist a very little little bit. Or else, there would be various variations of the Clyde Drexler and Bill Walton-led Blazer teams having up most of the prime 5 places. Ideally, that is not considerably of a spoiler, but who on in this article would truly count on to NOT have all those groups on this list

How These Rip City Teams Were Ranked

Peak performance matters more than longevity here. Playoff success, star power and cultural impact decide the order. Regular-season records break close ties. Fan votes split evenly across eras every single time. Compare championships first, then Finals trips. Debate rankings with friends before finalizing a ballot.

#5 – 2014-15 (Head Coach – Terry Stotts, 51-31 record)

The 2013-14 Portland Trail Blazers managed to get out of the initial spherical, but this was the much better crew. Just before the Wesley Matthews injury, the team was outpacing the past year’s history. They nonetheless finished the standard time with a 51-31 record irrespective of a 10-11 end after the Matthews and LaMarcus Aldridge accidents.

With the exact core starting off 5 of Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Robin Lopez, the Blazers also solidified their bench with the additions of Steve Blake, ” The Birdman” Chris Kaman, and Aaron Afflalo. Kaman brought veteran humor to the locker room. Blake steadied second units with calm passing. Immediately after Matthews tore his Achilles Tendon. Losing a two-way wing mid-season crushed spacing. Role players could not replicate his defense. Afflalo was thrust into a starting job. The rotation never recovered its early rhythm.

Absence of chemistry down the extend together with LaMarcus participating in by way of injury, led to a disappointing 4-1 exit at the arms of Memphis. If this group had stayed healthy, this would have been Lillard’s very best shot at a title. 

On December 23rd, 2014, @Dame_Lillard tapped his wrist for the 1st time… Now, the #Blazers return again to exactly where it all commenced, Oklahoma City.

A search back at the now legendary wrist tap and how it has taken on a life of its very own. The gesture became his signature celebration for years. Kids copied it on driveways everywhere. Television cameras hunt for the gesture during every single close home game played in downtown Portland.#ripcity pic.twitter.com/ATgjr88Iom

— NBC Sports activities Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) April 18, 2019

#4 – 2008-09 (Nate McMillan, 54-28)

This crew was so young and however so terrifying. The Path Blazers were being the youngest crew in the league, however they performed with the half-court self-control of the San Antonio Spurs. Inspite of missing commencing little ahead Martell Webster for the full year and starting up centre Greg Oden for 21 online games.

Even with the injuries, they even now managed to end in a a few-way tie for the second-very best history in the Western Conference at 54-28. Tiebreakers, nevertheless, forced them into the 4th seed.

This crew had sizing, protection, and a highly efficient ball-dealing with capturing guard in Brandon Roy. The Aldridge and Oden tandem was by now getting to be a nightmare down minimal for opposing defenses.

Remaining with the starters, Portland had the large-traveling Rudy Fernandez and Travis Outlaw able of creating their personal shots, together with previous starter Joel Przybilla performing as the enforcer off the bench. Fernandez brought Euroleague flair to the second unit. Przybilla protected the rim with hard fouls.

Regretably, they ran into a Houston Rockets staff capable of countering Portland’s bigs. Houston exposed the youth gap in a six-game series. Roy needed help that never arrived on time.’s bigs although also throwing all-defensive degree wings at Roy throughout the collection. 

#3 – 1989-90: Finals Heartbreak

Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter and Jerome Kersey powered 59 wins and a Finals trip against Detroit. These Rip City teams peaked when the Bad Boys ruled the league, yet Portland pushed every series with depth and pace. Detroit needed physical play to survive. Porter ran the offense while Kersey guarded the best wing. Among Rip City teams of the Drexler era, this group set the standard for backcourt scoring.

#2 – 2018-19: Western Conference Finals

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum carried Portland past Denver in a classic seven-game series. The quadruple-overtime Game 3 lasted nearly four hours. Jusuf Nurkic anchored the paint before injury struck late. Even a sweep by Golden State could not dim a special postseason. McCollum averaged over 20 points in that playoff run. Nurkic set bone-crushing screens before tip-off. Lillard features in debates about defining NBA superstars in 2022-23.

#1 – 1976-77: Champions

Bill Walton earned Finals MVP as Jack Ramsay’s squad beat Philadelphia in six games. Maurice Lucas provided muscle beside Walton, while Lionel Hollins ran the offense. Gross defended multiple positions every single night. No list of Rip City teams starts anywhere else, and centers like Walton star among the 3 most underrated centers in the NBA.

These five Rip City teams span every Blazers era from Walton to Lillard. Stotts, McMillan and Ramsay each left distinct fingerprints. Great coaching maximized flawed rosters. Rewatch classic games to settle your own order. Revisit one classic game each month to appreciate the evolution. This countdown covers champions, finalists and beloved contenders.