There has been a lot of talk in recent days and weeks about who would be in consideration for the NBA’s best players of all time. Or more specifically, who would be on the Mount Rushmore of the NBA.
That conversation has, of course, shifted its focus to the greatest players to wear a Portland jersey, and while it’s a fun debate, a wrench that is often thrown into the most heated parts of the debate is this: How we can possibly compare players who don’t play the same position, and for that matter against different eras? And you know what, they have an extremely valid point.
It would be very difficult to compare Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Michael Jordan, just like it would be very difficult to compare Bill Walton to Clyde Drexler. It’s apples to oranges, and we can’t and won’t compare those.
So rather than trying our best to fit square pegs into round holes, we thought it best to just compare the best square pegs for what they are and let the individual careers do the talking. We asked OSN Senior Writers Bryant Knox (BK) and Casey Mabbott (CM) to offer their thoughts on what a Portland Trail Blazers all-time starting five might look like, and since every rotation needs some help from the bench, we even threw them an extra spot to put their best 6th man.
This is intended to be the best players, mind you, not who we like the most or who we think might have had a better overall career if not for the what ifs. For this one great day, we will keep passion out of it and let the stats and accomplishments sway us. Great potential has never been and will never be regarded the same as a great success.
So here we go—the Trail Blazers’ all-time and best lineup. If you want to offer feedback or just happen to disagree, feel free to find us on twitter and let us know what you think.
Point Guard
BK: It’s got to be Damian Lillard. I won’t go as far as to say it’s the journey not the destination…but it’s been one heck of a journey for the 2012 No. 6 pick. He owns arguably the two greatest shots in franchise history. His five All-Star games are surpassed only by Clyde Drexler’s eight. Lillard was a player you could both build around and be proud of from Day 1 in Portland, and none of that has changed over the course of his incredible career.
CM: While there have been a host of very good point guards to play for Portland over the years, there is really only one answer here – Damian Lillard. While often overlooked as one of the greats of the game today, Lillard has proven year in and year out why he belongs in the conversation as an elite player. Terry Porter, Damon Stoudamire, and Lionel Hollins all had great years here in the Rose City, but Lillard is without question the greatest point guard in franchise history, has many career milestones to prove it, and may one day be thought of as the greatest player in franchise history when all is said and done.
Shooting Guard
BK: As much as I’d love to hold out for Clyde Drexler at small forward, I’ll play by the rules. After all, if the Blazers couldn’t even do it with Michael Jordan available for the taking, who am I to revise history? As a life-long 2-guard, Clyde gets the nod here. Nobody like the Glide had come through Portland before his arrival, nobody like him has come through since. Like Casey said above, Lillard will have a claim as the Trail Blazers GOAT when his playing days are said and done. But for now, that honor belongs to Clyde, who despite not winning a title took the Blazers to two out of Portland’s three Finals appearances.
CM: No offense to Jim Paxson, Geoff Petrie, Brandon Roy, Wesley Matthews, or CJ McCollum, but shooting guard is also a one player debate. Clyde Drexler is the standard at the two spot, with an electric all-around game, unreal athleticism and leaping ability, and he was hardly a liability on defense either. An 8-time all-star that led Portland to two NBA Finals, The Glide is one of the most beloved players in Portland history, and certainly the best in franchise history at the shooting guard position, holding numerous team records for more than a decade. Until another guy snags a spot on the NBA’s 50 greatest players, I’m sticking with Clyde the Glide here.
Small Forward
BK: My gut tells me Jerome Kersey is the play here. He might be the franchise’s posterboy for longevity averaging over 75.5 games played over 11 years. It also should be honorably mentioned that if looking at sheer talent and career success, Scottie Pippen is the easy answer. But I’m going Uncle Cliffy. Clifford Robinson did the bulk of his damage off the bench early in his career, but he was an All-Star in his first season as a starter and, for what it’s worth, is still today the team’s all-time leading scorer at small forward.
CM: The three spot is bound to cause some controversy, until you look at the numbers anyway. There are some great small forwards in Portland’s history, but only one guy shows up in nearly every statistical category – Jerome Kersey. Kiki Vandeweghe and Nic Batum knew how to stuff the stat sheet also, but not like Kersey. #2 in games played, #5 in minutes played, #6 in field goals, #6 in win shares, #2 in offensive rebounds, #5 in free throws, #3 in defensive rebounds, #3 in total rebounds, #9 in assists, #3 in steals, #6 in points scored, #6 in blocks. You won’t find a more versatile player, and you don’t need to. #25 was the best to play the #3 spot, and he’s #1 in a lot of Trail Blazers fans hearts, with or without the stats. But definitely with the stats.
Power Forward
BK: As long as we’re cool calling Maurice Lucas a 4 and not a 5, this is an easy choice for me. LaMarcus Aldridge has a real case. After all, he was trying to become, in his own words, the greatest Trail Blazer of all time before leaving, and while that would have been a tall task, Prime Aldridge could have very well become the team’s greatest 4 ever alongside Prime Lillard. But Maurice Lucas epitomized everything you loved in a teammate and everything you hated in an opponent. The enforcer was a three-time All-Star in five seasons with the Blazers and even did his farewell tour with the Blazers over the course of the 1987-88 campaign. Sheed and Buck Williams also earn honorable mention here, as this has been a fun position for the franchise over the years.
CM: The four is a lot like the three – some greats have manned this position, and they’ve done it with style. But no one had a career quite like LaMarcus Aldridge. This is not a slight against Buck Williams, Rasheed Walllace, Cliff Robinson, or Maurice Lucas. They all had great careers, and all of them had better success in the playoffs than LMA. But none of them had the individual achievements he did. Only Drexler and Lillard have their names near the top in more franchise categories than LMA, and that’s saying something given how great these two are. Robinson came really close to snagging this given his individual production and versatility, Lucas has the team hardware, and Buck’s and Sheed’s teams went farther in the playoffs, but LMA had the better career on the sheet, and that’s what we’re looking at here. You might want one of those other guys taking the post in a critical moment of a must-win game, but whether you like the guy or his attitude, you couldn’t do much better than Aldridge no matter what the situation called for.
Center
BK: As much as I’d love to name one of my childhood idols here, Bill Walton gets the nod over Arvydas Sabonis. In many ways, Walton is the best if not most important player in team history. The profound impact he had on the franchise outweighed his Hall of Fame accomplishments, and what he meant to the city can still be felt today. Like they say, it wasn’t a long time, but it was a good time.
CM: This one is tough. Bill Walton absolutely crushed the NBA for two straight years, and while he only played 5 years in Portland, he finds himself high up on franchise top-10 lists despite a short stay. That’s not a what-if story, that’s a “that just happened” kind of story. Arvydas Sabonis, who may have beaten Walton’s marks if he had come over when he was younger rather than playing seven injury plagued seasons in Portland as an aging veteran, also finds himself in nearly just as many categories as Walton. Mychael Thompson and Cliff Robinson are also high on the list in a lot of categories, and that’s a testament to their production. But come on, there’s only one Walton. #8 in defensive rebounds, #8 in blocks, 10th in points per game, 1st in rebounds per game, second in blocks per game, 1st in player efficiency, 1st in defensive rating, 1st in box rating, and that’s in just 209 games here. Good luck finding me another player with that level of talent and hard work. For as much time as Sabas was injured, he still played 470 games here, and Thompson had 551. Both had double the time, and did not double or even top what Walton was able to do. Did I mention he also led the team to their only title, was named Finals MVP that year and the NBA MVP the following year? You might think he’s a goofy commentator now, and you’d be right, but back when he was the big red rebounding machine in Portland, all he did was win. And get injured, but also win.
6th Man
BK: Since I chose to use the ultimate Trail Blazers sixth man in my starting lineup, I’m going to give Brandon Roy the Manu Ginobili treatment. His cut-short career is one of the biggest “what-ifs” in not just team history but league history. But that’s not what his inclusion on this list is about. No “what-ifs,” which is a huge testament to what The Natural was able to accomplish in such a condensed period of time. At this point in the exercise I’ll also declar my intention to cheat in my lineup if I ever get to hop in the wayback machine and run out this collection of positional GOATs as a cohesive lineup. Once Roy enters the game for Cliff, Clyde slides to the 3. In all honesty…I have no idea how these guys would play together. The Lillard-Roy-Drexler + Lucas-Walton formula would be an experiment to say the least. But you know what? That’s one experiment I’d be happy to test out.
CM: This has to go to Uncle Cliff doesn’t it? #5 in games, #6 in minutes, #8 in field goals, #6 in free throws, #10 in total rebounds, #6 in steals, #2 in blocks, and #5 in points. The guy was a do-it-all threat each and every night, developed an outside game as he got better acclimated to the pro game, and would absolutely be Portland’s dream come true as a unicorn if he were playing today. Height, length, speed, and the poster boy for staying healthy (he only missed 14 out of 656 games in 8 years), Cliff was the people’s champion even if he never won a real championship. If Walton and Aldridge are taking the starting PF and C spots – and they should be, then I want Cliff to be the first guy off the bench.
