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Portland Trail Blazers fans must have breathed a sigh of relief after Damian Lillard confirmed his stay with the franchise for another season.
There were plenty of NBA rumors that suggested he could hand in a trade request. The team's inability to surround him with a title-contending team has played a major role in sparking these rumors.
Lillard posted a photo on Instagram, which was enough for everyone to understand his desire to stay with the franchise that drafted him.
Damian Lillard has certainly injected belief into the rest of his teammates and the Trail Blazers' fans through this post for them to look forward to a great season. However, the current roster does not look ready to take the league by storm just yet.
The Portland Trail Blazers evidently had an underwhelming offseason. They are projected to start the 2021-22 campaign with the same starting lineup from last campaign. The quality of their depth outside of the starting five seems to have declined.
They are unpredictable, though, and could end up having a positive season compared to last year.
On that note, let's take a look at three bold predictions for the Portland Trail Blazers' 2021-22 NBA season.
#3 Damian Lillard finishes top 3 in MVP voting
Damian Lillard has always played with a chip on his shoulder. He has been leading the team from the front ever since he made his debut in the NBA. Lillard is always among the top names to feature in MVP conversations at the start of the season.
However, he is yet to earn a top-three finish in MVP voting to date. The best he has achieved is a fourth-place finish during the 2017-18 NBA season. Last season, Lillard could only manage a seventh-place finish. He averaged 28.8 points and 7.2 assists per game as he led the Trail Blazers to the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.
Lillard will be looking to help the Portland Trail Blazers in the best way possible yet again. It could result in him having the best season of his career in the NBA. He is 31-years-old right now and would be eager to achieve big things at this stage of his career.
Damian Lillard is an underrated player, though, at least from a media perspective. Him not being voted as an All-Star starter last season is a great example of that. But the bold prediction for this season is that it could change, and Lillard would end up being a top-three candidate for the MVP award by the end of next season.
#2 Portland Trail Blazers finish in the top six of the Western Conference
The Western Conference has always been tricky and tough for a team like the Portland Trail Blazers. With the emergence of teams like the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz last year, it seems tougher than ever.
With the NBA looking to conduct the play-in tournament again, the regular season will be intense for all playoff contenders. The Portland Trail Blazers are no exception to that. Many would be expecting them to fight for a playoff spot through the play-in tournament next season.
However, there is a chance the Trail Blazers could make the cut to qualify as a top-six seed directly. They did that last season without several starters who were sidelined with injuries for a long time. The list included players like CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic.
If the Portland Trail Blazers manage to remain healthy for long next campaign, they will be in a strong position to avoid the play-in tournament.
#1 Portland Trail Blazers make it past the first round
The Portland Trail Blazers have failed to qualify for the second round of the playoffs four times in the last five seasons. It's been highly disappointing for them after all the hard work the team has put in during each of the regular-season campaigns leading up to the playoffs.
Most of the current players have been part of those squads, mainly Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Both players will be feeling the heat and will be eager to make amends this time around.
The Portland Trail Blazers, despite their sub-par offseason, seem confident. They also have a new head coach in Chauncey Billups. That could be pivotal in them finally making it past the first round this season.
It won't be an easy road for sure, but if Portland does manage to execute their plans to perfection, they could be one of the surprise packages this year.
