Blazers Take Big Jump in New NBA Power Rankings

Jeremy Hanna | Jan 4, 2025

Jan 2, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht (4) defends a shot by Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (00) in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

At the moment, the Portland Trail Blazers are the best of the worst, edging out five other NBA teams with an 11-22 record.

This is partially because the Blazers were able to come out on top over the likes of the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks before 2024 came to an end.

While this doesn't help their overall standings in the Western Conference that much, their improvement was enough to be recognized by experts and analysts in their NBA Power Rankings.

John Schuhmann of NBA.com had the Trail Blazers move up two spots to No. 25 despite being "one of three teams that rank in the bottom five on both ends of the floor. However, he noted they're occasionally competitive.

"The last five games have been the Blazers’ best stretch of offense this season," Schuhmann said. "Five guys have averaged at least 14 points over the five games, with Shaedon Sharpe leading the way with 23 per game on an effective field goal percentage of 62.5%."

Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports also had Portland improve two spots to 25th overall while complimenting guard Scoot Henderson.

"Scoot Henderson has scored in double-figures in five of his last six games after accomplishing the feat just 10 times all season before that," Ward-Henninger said. "He's also averaged nearly eight assists over his last four games as he attempts to seize the 'point guard of the future' role in Portland."

While ESPN didn't improve their position, they still had the team sitting at No. 25 overall.

"An encouraging three-day span after Christmas saw the Blazers come back to beat Utah on a Scoot Henderson buzzer-beater, then defeat a Dallas team playing without Luka Doncic at home," Kevin Pelton of ESPN said. "In probably the best two-game stretch of Henderson's career, he totaled 37 points, 16 assists and 7 steals on 14-of-27 shooting."

However, Pelton noted that this surprising upswing didn't last for Portland.

"Alas, Henderson had just six points Monday as the Blazers lost their final game of 2024 by 22 points to Philadelphia. Consistency remains the biggest challenge for a young Portland team."

Finally, Law Murray of The Athletic also kept the Blazers at No. 25, noting that the highlight of the 2024 part of Portland's season was when they paid tribute to NBA legend Bill Walton, who led them to their only NBA Championship and was voted NBA MVP in 1978.

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