Casey Holdahl

Perhaps it’s due to that laid back outlook on life that Crabbe was able to toil in relative obscurity his first two years in the NBA before making a name for himself during the 2015-16 season. While the Trail Blazers’ coaching staff has been bullish on Crabbe’s talent since he first arrived in Portland, there was never much of a chance, be it due to an illness during his rookie training camp or a lack of available minutes at his position his sophomore season, to get him on the court.

But that changed this season. After biding his time, which is not such an easy thing to do for young players entering the NBA, the 2013 Pac-12 Player of the Year finally got an opportunity to play regular minutes with a defined role in 2015-16 and responded with averages of 10.3 points on 46 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from three, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 26.0 minutes per game this season. He played in more games, 81, during the 2015-16 season than he had in his first two season combined while his minutes per game almost doubled from the 2014-15 campaign. As Portland’s primary sixth man, Crabbe tripled his 2014-15 averages in shot attempts and points while improving his shooting percentages from both the field and three.  

“The first two years, it was kind of trying to figure out a lot of things,” said Crabbe. “Where can I be successful? How can I (have) an impact on the court for the team? How can I contribute in other ways that just scoring and things like that? Just as the games went on and the season went along, I just feel like I continued to grow in a lot of areas… A lot of positives but still things to learn.”

The question is: Will that maturation continue in Portland? With his initial three-year deal set to expire, Crabbe enters the offseason as a free agent who is sure to have plenty of suitors once teams can start courting players in July. But he’s also a restricted free agent, meaning the Trail Blazers can match any offer another team makes to the former Cal Bear, not to mention it sounds like he’d be perfectly happy to continue his career with the Trail Blazers, a young team that won 44 games this season and made it to the Western Conference semifinals. 

“Any pay raise is going to be significantly higher than what I’m making now,” said Crabbe, who was selected by the Cavaliers with 31st pick of the 2013 Draft before being traded to Portland. “But like I said earlier, it’s just situation really for me. It doesn’t make sense to make a lot of money and go to a team that, if you don’t fit that system, then get paid a lot of money to be frustrated? That doesn’t make sense to me. The culture here, it’s great. I know this organization well, I know the system, know the coaches, players. It’s just real comfortable here. I wouldn’t mind being here, I really wouldn’t.”

Considering the way he played this season, it’s safe to assume the Trail Blazers and the fans in Rip City wouldn’t mind that either. 

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Player Profile: Allen Crabbe

For most fans and probably a good segment of the players, Portland’s 137-105 blowout victory versus Golden State at the Moda Center on February 19 was the high-water mark of the 2015-16 season. Lead by 51 points from Damian Lillard, which was the first time the 6-3 guard out of Weber State hit the half century mark in scoring, the Trail Blazers jumped all over the defending NBA champs in the first game for either team after the 2016 All-Star break, building a 19-point lead in the first half before coasting to a 32-point victory. It was just the fifth time all season that a team managed to best the Warriors, something only one team, the Lakers, have done since then.

But while the Warriors might be a bit more motivated for Friday night’s game due to the way the last meeting went, it’s hard to imagine a team that has lost just six times all season, and not once on their home court, is going to do much adjusting for a team three games above .500.

“I think they’ve been pretty consistent, they’ve only lost six times,” said Lillard of the Warriors. “I think it’s safe to say they’re going to be the same team that they’ve been all year. That night we just played really well. Coming off All-Star break everybody usually comes back with a little bit of rust. That night was just our night. I’m sure that they probably had a little bit of a sour taste in they mouth about how it happened. But at this point we expect everybody’s best and they should expect ours, too.”

While the Trail Blazers won the most recent matchup, the Warriors handled Portland 128-108 in the first meeting of the season series back on January 8 and swept the 2014-15 season series 3-0, which might have been why some of Golden State’s players seemed to write off the loss as a fluke (and to be fair, considering their record, every loss this season fits the definition of a fluke). But all of the Warriors losses this season have come against teams well behind them in the league standings, so it stands to reason that defeating Golden State this year does take a bit of luck.

“It’s the NBA, nobody is above getting beat, nobody is above getting blown out,” said Lillard. “It happens to the best, it happens to the worst. It’s the best league in the world. Obviously (Golden State) will come back and want to have a different result, but anything can happen. We played well that night and we were the better team that night. That can change on any given night.”

What probably can’t change, at least if the Trail Blazers are to have a chance of handing the Warriors their first home loss this season, is the play of Lillard. The point guard in his fourth season is averaging 33.2 points per game on 48 percent shooting from the field and 42 percent shooting from three since the All-Star break, and they’ll need him to have the same kind of performance in Friday night’s as he had in the last game versus Golden State in order to be the first team to best the reigning champs twice this season.

“The first game we played them they got the best of us and I feel like the second game we got the best of them,” said Allen Crabbe. “Obviously they’re going to change some things up that we did really good, but if we have another 50-point performance from Dame then I’m pretty sure we’ll be in another good spot to win the game.”

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Game Day Hub: Portland at Golden State

Which might be why Lillard’s 2014-15 season, even though he averaged career highs in points, rebounds, steals and field goal percentage, felt like a bit of a down year for some. Perhaps it’s due to shooting 34 percent from three, a career low, after making his name as one of the most deadly shooters from range. And by that same token, Lillard didn’t have the same number of season-defining game-winners in 2014-15 as he did in 2013-14, though he certainly provided his share of memorable moments, the “You Know What Time It Is” three-pointer versus the Thunder in Oklahoma City that sent the game to overtime and eventually a Trail Blazers’ victory being the most obvious.

The varying opinions on Lillard’s 2014-15 campaign might also stem from the feast or famine nature of his shooting this season. After an early season “slump,” Lillard shot 48 percent from the field and 43 percent from three in November, helping the Trail Blazers get the season off to another fast start. His percentages came back to earth in December, possibly due to an injury forcing him to wear splints on two fingers on his shooting hand. Nevertheless, he was still finished the month shooting a very respectable 45 percent from the field and 36 percent from three.

But for whatever reason, Lillard struggled with his shooting for the remainder of the season, with January being the low point. In the first month of the New Year, Lillard shot just 37 percent from the field and 28 percent from three. And though that would be the low point, he never got back to the level he played at during the first two months of the season. His difficulty shooting would be punctuated in the playoffs, with the Grizzlies holding Lillard to 40 percent shooting from the field and16 percent shooting from three.

As for the other side of the ball, although still a work in progress, Lillard’s defensive rating has improved by almost 5 points per 100 possessions since his rookie season, going from 107.2 in 2013 to 105.1 in 2014 to 102.7 this season (for comparison, defensive-minded point guards Avery Bradley and Patrick Beverley finished with almost the same defensive rating as Lillard this season). What's more, according to SportVU tracking data (which is not without its imperfections), opponents shot just one percentage point better than their average when being guarded by Lillard this season. He’s not an elite defender by any means, but he is improving.

But even if it wasn’t the season he or his fans might have been hoping for, Lillard’s 2014-15 campaign still goes down as a success. He once again played all 82 games (he’s yet to miss a game in three seasons), set the record for most three-pointers in a players first three seasons, led the team in Win Shares, VORP and finished second in PER. He’s still got room to grow, but he’s already well on his way to being one of the best point guards in franchise history.

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Player Profile: Damian Lillard

Through the first two months of the season, Leonard appeared in just 13 games, and what few minutes he received in those 13 games usually game in mop up or garbage time. Though he had showed signs of improvement, he was behind both Chris Kaman and Joel Freeland in the big man rotation, meaning minutes would be scarce unless one of the guys in front of him ended up in foul trouble or injured.

Which is exactly what happened. After Freeland suffered a shoulder strain in the Jan. 3 game against the Hawks, Leonard replaced his best friend on the team in the rotation. Leonard would go on to appear in 34 of the next 35 games, averaging just under 20 minutes a game in January and 15.0 a game in February. He earned those minutes, in part, thanks to shooting 60 percent from the field and 46 percent from three in January and 51 percent from the field and 46 percent from three in February. His playing time dipped back to 10.9 minutes per game in March, as did his shooting percentages.

“Once the opportunity was there for me, I feel like, for the most part, I took advantage,” said Leonard. “There were times when maybe I was a little too hesitant, but as time went on and I got more minutes, felt much more comfortable, much more aggressive and kind of understanding understanding of how I could help this team.”

But the best was still yet to come for Leonard. He started to received extended minutes in April with the team opting to rest more veteran players after all but mathematically securing the Northwest Division title and responded by averaging 9.4 points on 52 percent shooting, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in the final nine games of the regular season. That extra run seemed to give Leonard a confidence boost going into the series versus the Grizzlies.

Though Portland had little to be happy about during the course of being eliminated in five games, Leonard’s play was undoubtably a bright spot. He would finish the series averaging 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting ridiculous percentages from the field (67 percent) and from three (77 percent). His 13-point, 13-rebound performance in Game 4, Portland’s lone win in the series, might have been his finest game as a Trail Blazer.

After being one of the few players to finish the 2014-15 season shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and 90 percent from the free throw line, more will be expected of Meyers Leonard next season, which, frankly, is what he and the team would prefer.

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Player Profile: Meyers Legend

Gee only appeared in 15 games for the Blazers, with most of those minutes coming in garbage time, so it’s all but impossible to look at his short time in Portland and come to any kind of conclusion on what kind of a player he is or whether he has a future with the Trail Blazers. When he was acquired, along with Arron Afflalo, from the Denver Nuggets midway through the season, the idea was that he would give the Blazers an athletic,  defensive-minded player off the bench, though he was never able to really crack the rotation.

By Casey Holdahl - That wasn’t the case for second year wing Allen Crabbe, at least during the first half of the season. Though he barely played in the first seven games, he appeared in 25 straight games after that, eventually averaging 17.0 minutes per game in November and 14.7 per in December. But a knee strain that was only supposed to keep the 6-6 wing out for a few games must have been worse than originally thought, as he played just 36 minutes combined in the next 32 games. He got back into the rotation as other injuries ravaged Portland’s roster, but even those minutes mostly came at the end of blowouts or in meaningless games.

Though that wasn’t the case at the end of the season. Crabbe averaged almost 20 minutes per in the final month of the regular season and started in Game 2 of Portland’s first round playoff series versus the Memphis Grizzlies. But in the end, his season ended the same way it started: with a string of DNPs. After playing in Game 1 and Game 2, Crabbe sat out the final three games of Portland’s short playoff run thanks to Afflalo returning from injury and CJ McCollum playing some of the best basketball of his professional career.

Nevertheless, after seeing the court in just 15 games during his rookie season, averaging 13.4 minutes in 51 appearances during his second season was progress in the right direction.

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Player Profile: Alonzo Gee & Allen Crabbe

But not Matthews, a throwback in every sense of the word. Despite his status as one of the best two-way shooting guards in the league, Matthews never took practices off, earning the “Iron Man” moniker while setting the tone for a roster filled with young players. And given the respect Matthews had rightfully earned for his dogged approach to the game, he had the ability to hold his teammates accountable on the court and in the locker room. His refusal to never throw in the towel, regardless of deficit, made Portland one of the best teams in the NBA at winning games after trailing by double digits.

But Matthews is much more than a “hustle guy.” He’s easily Portland’s best defender and arguably their best shooter. He developed a post game over the past few seasons, using his stout frame to bully opposing guards in the block, and made huge improvements in his ability to finish at the rim.

So when Matthews had the second-longest consecutive games streak of his career ended at 142 games after rupturing his left Achilles tendon in a 94-75 victory versus the Dallas Mavericks on March 3, it unofficially ended Portland’s status as a darkhorse for the Western Conference title.

“I’m frustrated man, I’m frustrated,” said Matthews after the injury. “You say everything happens for a reason and again, I was up in that tub I was just thinking: What was this reason? What was it? I can’t find it right now. But it’s bigger than me and this team has got something special still. I believe in that, I feel that they do too. We’ll all weather this. I’ll do what I need to do, this team will do what this team needs to do.”

Sure, Arron Afflalo was a decent replacement, but there was simply no way anyone could step in and replace what Matthews meant to the Trail Blazers on and off the court.

Now, Matthews continues to rehab — he’s vowed to be ready to play by training camp — and joins much of Portland’s roster a free agent this summer. Regardless of the direction his future takes, his performance and spirit through five seasons with the Trail Blazers has made him one of the champions of Rip City.

“I want to be in the ideal situation,” said Matthews. “My thing is, we only have a short window to do what we love and do what we love at the highest level. I’m about, when I’m done, when I can’t go anymore, when I don’t want to go anymore, I gave everything I had to this game, to myself and I was the best basketball player I could be. That’s where my head is, that’s where my heart is and in order to do that, I’ve got to get healthy and that’s what my focus is right now.”

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Player Profile: Wesley Matthews

While Meyers Leonard’s increased effectiveness as a stretch four could cut into Wright’s minutes, looking at minutes played that kind of misses the point in terms of what makes Wright a useful player. Wright value is in his ability to get a DNP one night, then play a vital role the next. Time after time, Wright has shown a capability to make timely plays and hit big shots cold off the bench in high-pressure situations, his performance versus Houston in the first round of the 2014 playoffs being Exhibit A. The Blazers don’t win that series without Wright’s contribution.

Which is why, while the injury to Wesley Matthews was obviously the most devastating blow to Portland’s 2014-15 season, Wright fracturing his left hand on April 1 might have been straw that truly broke Portland’s playoff hopes. It’s hard to say the Blazers would have beaten the Grizzlies with a healthy Dorell Wright with the way the series played out, but they would have had a much better chance had be been available.

It’s pretty difficult to tell at this point whether Wright will be a Trail Blazer next season, but you could do a whole lot worse than bringing back a well-liked player who knows the system, can stretch the floor, backup both forward positions and be fine with a reserve role.

By Casey Holdahl - As for Joel Freeland, the 6-10 Englishman just can’t catch a break. Every time it seems like he’s making progress toward being a regular part of Portland’s rotation, he’s been fell by injury. Last season it was a sprained MCL in his right knee, this season it was a right shoulder strain sustained while trying to block a shot at the rim. Neither injury seemed all that bad initially, though both infirmities would caused him to miss at least 30 games. Three years in, Freeland has never played more than 52 games a season. That’s unfortunate, especially considering how hard he has worked to round himself into a useful NBA big man.

Though he’s not likely to “wow” you with his play, Freeland plays the with the kind of hustle and scrap, particularly on the defensive end, that every team needs from players coming off the bench. He’ll never be as offensively skilled as LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Kaman and Meyers Leonard, but he plays the kind of smart, position defense that pairs well with his more offensive-minded teammates.

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Player Profile: Dorell Wright & Joel Freeland

And as injuries started to catch up with Kaman production, his production declined. Though he played in 74 games, Kaman dealt with injuries ranging from minor to significant for most of the season. Nevertheless, he was still Portland’s most consistent performer off the bench and he admirably filled in as a starter when injuries to his teammates forced Terry Stotts’ hand, even if it wasn’t a role he was particularly comfortable occupying at this point in his career.

So between injuries and being asked to do more than was expected when he signed as a free agent, there was potential for Kaman, a self-admitted malcontent who left on not-so-great terms after one-year stints with the Pelicans, Mavericks and Lakers, to check out in the second half of the season. But the older and wiser Trail Blazers edition of Chris Kaman did the exact opposite. Rather than sulking, he seemed to redouble his season-long efforts working as a mentor for Portland’s young bigs, particularly Meyers Leonard, while adding a dose of levity to the locker room.

And while he was never as effective as he was earlier in the season, he shot better than 60 percent from the field in the last month and a half and played admirably in Game 1 of Portland’s series versus the Grizzlies before another injury limited him in the final four games of the playoffs. But seeing the way Leonard, his replacement in the lineup who he has spent the entire season drilling on the macro and micro elements of being an NBA big man, played in his stead, it’s easy to argue that his influence was just as helpful on the bench as it was on the court.

“At this point, I’m on the decline, on the downslope of my career as far as I’m not as young as Meyers is,” said Kaman. “The best I can, I can help Meyers improve again. I think Meyers has so much potential and you saw what he did toward the end of the season and the middle of the season. He really stepped it up, so I thought Meyers did a great job… Any help I can give him, any opportunities I can help him with, I’m excited about it.”

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Player Profile: Chris Kaman

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