Year of the

CHAMPIONS

The Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers played against the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers, with the 76ers holding home-court advantage. The 1976–77 NBA season started with the ABA–NBA merger. Portland had benefited from the resulting ABA dispersal draft as they acquired Spirits of St. Louis power forward Maurice Lucas to partner with Bill Walton, and Philadelphia had signed ABA All-Star and 3-time ABA MVP Julius "Dr. J" Erving, who had taken the New York Nets to the ABA title the previous year. While it was no surprise that Philadelphia had made it to the championship series, having posted the best record in the east (50-32), Portland's appearance in the finals was a mild surprise. Portland, a team that was founded only seven years earlier, was not only making its playoff debut with its first winning season (49-33, #3), but it was also making its finals debut as well after sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in four close games in the Western Conference Finals.

20.8
PTS Per Game
6.2
REBS PER GAME
5.7
AST Per Game
2
STLS PER GAME
8
ALl-STAR Games

After almost a dozen seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, Drexler left Portland with his name all over the franchise's record books. A perennial All-Star and a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Dream Team, Drexler twice led the Blazers to the NBA Finals. It wasn't until he joined the Houston Rockets midway through his 12th campaign, however, that he finally earned a championship ring.

20.8
PTS Per Game
6.2
REB Per Game
5.7
AST Per Game
2
STLS PER GAME
8
ALl-STAR Games
2
STEALS PER GAME

#2 OVERALL PICK


vs


#3 OVERALL PICK

Of the 1984 NBA draft

SAM BOWIE

MICHAEL JORDAN

10.9

Points Per Game
30.1

Points Per Game
  • PTS
  • ASTS
  • REBS
  • STLS
  • GMS

In the 1984 draft, the Portland Trailblazers drafted Sam Bowie, a 7'1 center/power forward from Kentucky with the second overall pick. The first pick was center Hakeem Olajuwon [then known as Akeem]. The third pick was Michael Jordan, a 6'6 swing player from North Carolina. While Olajuwon has gone on to have a Hall of Fame career and Michael Jordan is considered by many as the greatest player of all-time, Bowie led a long but unremarkable career, coming back from a string of career-threatening leg injuries. For most of Bowie's career, when healthy, he was a good rebounder and passer, demonstrating excellent touch for a man his size. His dedication to rehabilitate and play despite the option of quitting the sport while keeping his contract was inspiring. However his basketball presence was mostly a shell of his former playing self.

ONE OF THE
MOST UNRATED

With the 24th Pick of the 1985 draft, The portland trail blazers selected terry porter out of Wisconsin-stevens point. Deemed the second best scouted gaurd of the draft, terry quickly took the helm of the team with his strategic passing abilities. porter would go to lead the trail blazers to two nba finals in the early 1990’s,He averaged a double-double (points and assists) in 1987-88, and had a five-year stretch averaging 8+ assists and 13+ points. He played in only two All-Star games, but did make two Finals, averaging 20+ points in the Playoffs in each of the Blazers Finals runs.

SO CLOSE,YET SO FAR

Led by Drexler, the team reached the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992, losing to the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls, respectively. Possibly inspired by the 1985 Chicago Bears's "Super Bowl Shuffle", during the run-up to their 1990 Finals appearance, the Blazers recorded two songs: "Bust a Bucket" and "Rip City Rhapsody" ( with music played and recorded by Josh Mellicker, "Rip City" being a reference to the city's nickname). The year in between their two finals appearances, the team posted a league-best 63–19 record before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals.

rose garden

A NEW HOME

The Trail Blazers began the 1995-96 season in new surroundings, the state-of-the-art Rose Garden, with a capacity of more than 20,000. After years of only accommodating less than 13,000, suddenly Portland had a facility that ranked among the best in the NBA. The Trail Blazers' Rose Garden debut was less than memorable, as Portland dropped a 92-80 decision to the Vancouver Grizzlies, playing in their first ever NBA game. Their fortunes would improve. After struggling to a 26-34 record through the first three quarters of the season, the Trail Blazers charged to an 18-4 finish to capture third place in the Pacific Division with a 44-38 record. That record was good enough to lift the Trail Blazers to their 14th consecutive playoff appearance and 19th in 20 years. Their late-season rally was in large part due to their largest player, 7-2 center Arvydas Sabonis. Sabonis, originally drafted by the Trail Blazers in 1986, a Lithuanian superstar who spent six years in the Spanish league, joined the Trail Blazers in 1995 as a 31-year-old rookie. Despite being limited to 23.8 minutes per game with sore knees, Sabonis averaged 14.5 points and 8.1 rebounds.

MIKE IN CHARGE

After six consecutive first-round exits from the playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers returned to the ranks of the Western Conference's elite teams. Mike Dunleavy earned Coach of the Year honors as the Trail Blazers raced to a 35-15 record in the regular season. Portland swept Phoenix in the first round and eliminated Utah, the reigning conference champion, in the semifinals before losing to San Antonio in the Western finals.

jail
blazers



The dirty half-dozen

The Trail Blazers made a series of personnel moves in the 2000 and 2001 off-seasons that failed to produce the desired results. The team started off well, posting the Western Conference's best record through March 2001, and then signed guard Rod Strickland to augment their point guard corps. The move backfired, and the team lost 17 of its remaining 25 games, and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs (swept by the Los Angeles Lakers). Some in the media began to criticize the team, and Whitsitt, previously proclaimed a genius for his work in both Seattle and Portland, was criticized. A particular criticism was that Whitsitt was attempting to win a title by assembling a roster of stars, without paying attention to team chemistry.

History may very well judge that day as the turning point of the Trail Blazers franchise. In a draft day that included fifteen trades, none were more important or carefully orchestrated as the move to acquire Brandon Roy. In short, the Blazers traded Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a second-round pick in 2008 to Boston for Dan Dickau, Raef LaFrentz and Randy Foye, who Boston took with the seventh pick. Shortly thereafter, Foye was traded to Minnesota for Brandon Roy, who was taken by the Timberwolves with the sixth pick. In an organization that has occasionally found themselves on the short end of the trade stick, this move seemed like a proverbial slam dunk.

#1 OVERALL PICK


vs


#2 OVERALL PICK

Of the 2007 NBA draft

GREG ODEN

kevin durant

8.0

Points Per Game
27.3

Points Per Game
  • PTS
  • ASTS
  • REBS
  • STLS
  • GMS

The Blazers won the 2007 NBA Draft Lottery and selected Ohio State center Greg Oden with the No. 1 pick in the draft. Some had speculated that they might choose Kevin Durant instead; Durant was picked at No. 2 by regional rivals the Seattle SuperSonics. Oden suffered a pre-season knee injury requiring microfracture surgery, and missed the entire 2007–08 season. Oden's constant battle with injuries and Durant's success resulted in comparisons to the Blazers' selection of Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan in 1984.

brandon roy waving to the crowd

A CAREER CUT SHORT

"This is a very difficult and painful day, I love the game, I love the Portland Trail Blazers and I love our fans, but after consulting with my doctors, I will seek a determination that I've suffered a career ending injury, pursuant to the rules of the collective bargaining agreement."Roy, who averaged 19 points, 4.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds for his career, sat for stretches of HIS last FULL season because of soreness. He had arthroscopic surgery on both knees last January and finished the season with a career-low average of 12.2 points in 47 games.



Cleaning House

A lockout put transactions on hold until early December, and the Blazers were hit with three downfalls once the date came: Brandon Roy announced his retirement due to chronic knee problems, Greg Oden was diagnosed with yet another setback involving his ongoing knee issues, and LaMarcus Aldridge underwent heart surgery.Interim GM Chad Buchanan signed three free agents in the week before Portland's first exhibition game: Kurt Thomas, Jamal Crawford and Craig Smith.


In the shortened 2011–12 NBA season, the Blazers got off to a 7–2 start. But the team quickly began to collapse, as starting point guard Raymond Felton, among others, struggled with McMillan's new approach to a running-style offense. The team gained some notability as Aldridge was named to his first All-Star Game.




THE REST IS HISTORY