Last week, 2K released the latest edition of their popular basketball franchise, NBA2K. With the release of the game comes the release of player rankings, which typically sparks debate among players and fans alike. You can check out how the 2019-20 Trail Blazers came out in the player rankings here.
But while there are disagreements about ratings, those are minor compared to the discussions about who deserved to be on a franchise all-time team. So as we near the Trail Blazers' 50th anniversary season, there's no better time to check out NBA2K20's take on which players made the cut, and the order in which those players are ranked.
NBA2k20 TRAIL BLAZERS ALL-TIME TEAM RATINGS
Clyde Drexler takes the top spot with a 97 rating followed by Bill Walton at 95, both widely considered the best two players in franchise history (Drexler has the better stats, but no championship with the team, while Walton has a ring but only played in Portland for four seasons). But behind Drexler and Walton, the consensus starts to wonder.
According to NBA2K20, Damian Lillard, with a 92 rating, takes the third spot over the likes of Brandon Roy (91), LaMarcus Aldridge (89) and Maurice Lucas (89). I've been making the argument for about a year now that Lillard had moved into the franchise all-time Top 3, so it's nice to see the folks at 2K throwing their support behind it, though Dame had a bit to do with that himself by leading the team to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Outside of the top spots, there's a number of selections/omissions which are ripe for debate. My assumption is that Rasheed Wallace is on the Pistons all-time team, and thus, wasn't eligible for the Trail Blazers squad, so that makes sense (ed. note: as some have pointed out, Wallace isn't in the game at all, as he has refused to license his likeness. Good for you Sheed). But no Mychal Thompson, who is in the franchise all-time Top 10 in blocks (first), rebounds (fourth), minutes (eighth), assists (eighth!), field goals (ninth) and a host of other statistics? You probably couldn't include both Damon Stoudamire and Rod Strickland, but one should probably be on there. Cliff Robinson, one of the original "stretch fours"? Buck Williams?
As for who is on the list, while he's my favorite player in franchise history, Arvydas Sabonis coming in before Terry Porter and Jerome Kersey was a bit surprising (though they're all really close). I can't really speak to Kiki Vandeweghe's play, but he only makes the franchise Top 10 in percentage categories and only advanced out of the first round once. Zach Randolph feels like a bit of a stretch as well, especially considering a few of the players who didn't make the cut.