A combination of young and old allowing Portland to blossom

 

Getty Images

Going into this season, the expectations for the Portland Trail Blazers were pretty low amongst the NBA world, with ESPN predicting they'd win 35 games and Bleacher Report penciling them in to win 38 games. I know it's early, but with a 5-1 start, the Blazers appear to be firing on all cylinders and look to be a team competitive enough to at the very least make the playoffs. Here are a few reasons why.

Dame Time

Getty Images

Excluding Damian Lillard's rookie season and last year's injury-riddled campaign, the Blazers have always been good enough to at least make the playoffs in every year of his career. He has shown the ability to carry below average rosters on his shoulders with his magical shot-making and poise. Going into 2022, he is surrounded by a roster that is more talented than any he has had for the last several years, and he received treatment on his heel over the offseason that he claimed had been hindering him for years. Because of this, I'm not particularly sure why the realm of NBA experts was down on this Blazers team if you consider Lillard's track record as well as the talent level of his roster. Dame's loyalty and realness have garnered both fans and critics over the years, but one thing you can't argue with is this: the dude is stone-cold killer on the basketball court.

Anfernee Simons

Getty Images

Entering his fifth NBA season, Blazers guard Anfernee Simons has grown into a borderline All-Star level player. With the trade of CJ McCollum last year, somebody needed to step up and take on his role of shot making, and it is looking like Simons has slid into that role flawlessly. As clipped below, you can tell that Simons has taken pieces from Dame and CJ's game and integrated them into his own, whether it is the step back 3s from Dame or the crafty iso-ball from CJ. At only 23 years old, he has steadily improved each year and appears to be more than capable of being Dame's sidekick in an exciting new backcourt duo.

New Acquistions

Getty Images

The Blazers made a few key moves to bolster their roster this offseason, highlighted by trading for star forward Jerami Grant from Detroit. Grant will provide the blazers with elite defense, athleticism on both ends, and shot-making that they have been sorely lacking at the power forward position for years. As a borderline All-Star himself, Grant's defensive abilities will also help make up for the lack of defense in the Blazers backcourt as well as giving them another guy that can stretch the floor from deep.

However, Grant was not the only important offseason move the Blazers made. They went even further in attempting to improve their defense by signing reigning NBA champion Gary Payton II to help out the backcourt. On top of that, with the seventh pick in the 2022 Draft, the Blazers selected Shaedon Sharpe. Thus far, he is looking like he could be a full-blown superstar in the making. He can jump out of the gym, and his combination of scoring, athleticism, and length are looking dangerous at only 19 years old. Earlier this year, Dame had talked about how Sharpe might be the type of guy to take this team over the hump, from a fringe playoff team to a contender. Maybe this combination of seasoned vets and young, up and coming stars is what the Blazers need to finally see some more postseason success. After watching the way Sharpe catapulted for a slam a few nights ago, I'm starting to get a little convinced of that myself.