#5 - Terry Stotts (Portland Trail Blazers)
Their cornerstone and franchise player of nine years, LaMarcus Aldridge, left for San Antonio in the summer. It was the beginning of what turned out to be an exodus of their core with Robin Lopez (New York), Wesley Matthews (Dallas) and Nicolas Batum (Charlotte) all following Aldridge out the door. And yet, here are the Blazers, fifth in the tough Western Conference (not so this year), amongst the best shooting and rebounding teams in the league.
Damian Lillard was the only member from last year’s starting five that remained, but Stotts has built the team around him and shooting guard C.J. McCollum, as the backcourt duo have poured in the points, the Blazers sixth in points per game (105.1).
Stotts has stuck to his offensive roots and has found a productive big man trio in Myers Leonard, Mason Plumlee and Al-Farouq Aminu who’ve given this team solid rebounding and points to aid their explosive guard combo of Lillard and McCollum. Portland finished fifth in rebounds per game (45.5).
Guess the Lakers players!
