The Trail Blazers had a stretch of games this past week in which they held their opponents under 100 points in three consecutive games for the first time since March 2019. With the way Portland had been shooting in January, one would think this sort of defensive feat would translate to wins, but Portland went 0-3 in those games failing to score 100 points themselves in each contest. After their red-hot January from three-point range, the Trail Blazers are now last in the league in three-point percentage to start February at 28.3 % on the month. They are also attempting the third-most threes in the league over that span at 40 per game. Portland has been living and dying by the three, scoring 37.7% of their points from deep this year (fifth most), compared to 38.9 % of their points coming in the paint (second-fewest). After an 0-4 week 17, Portland has fallen to 1-7 across its last eight contests on the heels of a 6-2 stretch in the eight games before that.

Portland now sits just outside the play-in position and half a game behind the Pelicans for 10th in the West. If the season were to end right now, Portland stands to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2013. They would also retain their lottery-protected first-round pick, marking the first lottery pick for Portland since 2013. The last two top-10 picks Portland had were CJ McCollum (10th overall in the 2013 draft) and Damian Lillard (sixth overall in the 2012 draft). We all know what those two have meant to this franchise over the last near-decade, fueling Portland to the playoffs in each of the last eight seasons. However, despite the regular-season success Portland has had in that span, they don’t have an NBA championship to show for it and that is the ultimate goal, as Damian Lillard expressed following last year’s first-round exit saying, “we didn't win a championship so obviously where we are now isn't good enough.” With little change to the core for Portland over the last few years, this season has brought in sweeping changes to the coaching staff and front office, but with only marginal changes to the roster prior to this week. With the trade deadline fast approaching, Portland has taken its first step in what looks to be more significant change to the roster than we’ve seen in years.

Ahead of Thursday’s deadline Portland made a move sending Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the Clippers in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson, and a 2025 second-round pick. It remains to be seen if more moves are coming before Thursday, but as it stands this trade opens up minutes for Portland’s young players to continue to develop and get valuable in-game experience while providing increased flexibility from a roster and salary cap standpoint heading into the trade deadline and subsequent offseason.

After playing at least every other day since the start of 2022, Portland will finally have two days off in a row to rest up and get a practice in before a home back-to-back against the Magic and Lakers followed by another two days off that will take us through the trade deadline. After a tumultuous January filled with many miles of travel and few rest days for the Trail Blazers, a home stand with consecutive days off should be a welcome sight. Portland has expectedly taken a hit in the power rankings after going 0-4 this past week, including two losses to the Thunder who are one of just four teams below them in the Western Conference standings. Coming in as high as No. 23 and as low as No. 25, here’s where the Trail Blazers sit in the 17th edition of the weekly power rankings.

• John Schuhmann at NBA.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 25 this week, four spots worse than last week...

The Blazers had a promising, 6-2 stretch in the middle of January. But they’ve since lost six of their last seven, a stretch that includes two losses to Oklahoma City and three of the 10 games in which they’ve scored less than a point per possession. They had fourth-quarter leads in two games last week, but scored just 16 points (with four turnovers) on 17 clutch possessions.
And on Friday, the Blazers seemingly punted on the season, trading two starters — Norman Powell (who had 30 points in his final game with Portland) and Robert Covington (who shot 0-for-8 in that game) — to the Clippers. The Blazers were outscored by 6.4 points per 100 possessions (allowing 115.8 per 100) in 852 total minutes with Covington and Powell on the floor together, though that breaks down to plus-3.6 per 100 in 491 minutes with those two alongside Damian Lillard and an amazing minus-20.5 per 100 in 361 minutes with Lillard off the floor.
The Blazers didn’t get a future first-round pick in the deal, but they did get a first-rounder (the No. 21 pick) from last year’s Draft. Keon Johnson (a 6-4 guard who turns 20 in March) hasn’t had much of an opportunity to play with the Clippers and his career-high (15 points) came in garbage time of a blowout loss in December. He seems to have more athleticism than skill at this point, but the Blazers have certainly had some success in regard to developing guards.
Now we see if there are other moves before the deadline. With the Pelicans’ win in Houston on Sunday, the Blazers fell out of the last Play-In spot in the West, though they have an easier remaining schedule (cumulative opponent winning percentage of .465) than the other three teams in the mix.

Schuhmann has the Trail Blazers behind the Pacers at No. 24 and ahead of the Kings at No. 26.

• The panel of voters at ESPN has the Trail Blazers at No. 24 this week, two spots worse than last week...

You could make the argument that the deal Portland just made by sending Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the Clippers for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, rookie Keon Johnson and a 2025 second-round pick is the most impactful deal the Blazers have made in five seasons. After eight straight playoff appearances, the Blazers now are a team in transition, looking more like a team ready to rebuild. Shedding Powell's salary is likely the first of more moves designed to not only cut payroll but give the team flexibility and assets for the future. Interim general manager Joe Cronin's phone will be busy this week.

The folks at ESPN have the Trail Blazers behind the Spurs at No. 23 and ahead of the Pacers at No. 25.

• Zach Harper at The Athletic has the Trail Blazers at No. 24 this week, three spots worse than last week...

Should they be buyers or sellers? Sellers. They’ve already started by moving Powell and Covington to the Clippers last week. Probably want more than just Keon Johnson and Justise Winslow as the fun parts in return to sell to the fans. Nobody is expecting Damian Lillard to be on the block, but CJ McCollum definitely becomes the guy to watch here. There have been so many talks and rumors about moving McCollum for years, but you have to make sure you’re getting similar return for an All-Star guard, even if he’s never made the All-Star Weekend. The Blazers aren’t close to where they need to be. Lillard said it right after they were eliminated last year. A new front office needs to figure out quickly how to appease their star moving forward.
Who should be on the move? Eric Bledsoe is a good contract to move if they’re hoping to get involved in a third team in a big deal. But he also could end up being a buyout candidate. McCollum and maybe even Jusuf Nurkic should be names to watch here. Nurkic is on an expiring deal and he’s someone pretty easy to acquire for his money ($12 million). For any team looking to add effective size, he’d be a brilliant pickup. McCollum’s deal is much harder to acquire, and him missing so much time makes it a little more difficult to buy into acquiring him. More likely he gets moved in the summer, but you never know when these massive dominos will fall and set off a chain reaction.

Harper has the Trail Blazers behind the Spurs at No. 23 and ahead of the Pelicans at No. 25.

• Michael Shapiro at Sports Illustrated has the Trail Blazers at No. 23 this week, four spots worse than last week...

As if an abysmal, depressing season couldn’t get worse … now the Blazers have lost Nassir Little, their promising young forward, to what appears to be a season-ending shoulder injury, just as he was starting to blossom. There are only two questions left here: Will the Blazers spin off their top veterans—in particular, Jusuf Nurkić, Robert Covington and perhaps CJ McCollum—by the Feb. 10 trade deadline? And can they do enough to retool between now and next season to justify keeping Damian Lillard?

Shapiro has the Trail Blazers behind the Wizards at No. 22 and ahead of the Spurs at No. 24.