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When the Blazers finished the regular season with an impressive 53-29(0.646) win-loss record and entered the playoffs as a respectable third seed, their recent postseason past was still afresh in the memories of many.
Having being swept in the first round for the past two years, Lillard and his Trail Blazers knew they had to make it big this year one way or the other. They did get swept again this year around, but it was to the greatest basketball team assembled ever and for a change, in the Western Conference Finals.
Portland beat Thunder 4-1 in the first round and dragged the second seed Nuggets all the way to seven games before advancing to their first West Finals in 19 years. Golden State ended the merry run in a way they were expected to but that doesn't take anything away from the fact that this Trail Blazers squad willed past their demons and exceeded all expectations during their 2018-19 campaign.
Lillard and McCollum continued to display their backourt dominance, but the true difference maker was the dynamic supporting cast that emerged as the missing piece of the puzzle for the franchise. But, there were some who still didn't live up to their potential, and ended up being disappointing as a whole.
Let's take a look at the three most underwhelming individual performances from the 2018-19 Trail Blazers side.
#1 Al-Farouq Aminu
The 28-year-old started 81 games during the regular season and averaged just 9.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in over 28 minutes of playtime per game.
During last year's playoffs, he was shooting over 43% from beyond the arc and around 52% from the field, which would be considered astronomically high when compared to his postseason numbers this year. He shot a miserably low 29% from deep and 34% overall during the 16 playoff games Portland played this year.
Moreover, in 94 three-point attempts (most tries of any Blazers player this season by a huge margin) from the corner during the regular season, 'the Chief' bricked on 66% on those. Him not being able to find his range left Lillard with lesser options, along with cramping Kanter from posting on the low block.
Aminu's failure to pose a reliable three-point threat opened gates for a catch-and-shoot player in Rodney Hood and a viable perimeter shooter in Seth Curry.
#2 Maurice Harkless
After missing 14 games in the first half of the 2018-19 season due to a left knee issue, Harkless started in 53 of the total 60 games that he played this past regular season. With a lowly conversion rate of 27% from beyond the arc, the 25-year-old averaged a sub-par 7.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game before the playoffs.
In a high-volume three-point shooting team like the Blazers, Harkless shot just 30% from corner threes, as defenders would often clamp Lillard and McCollum on isolated defensive sets to try to force the ball into the his hands.
Needless to say, he attempted fewer triples with Hood on the court, and scored an average 8.4 points per game across the playoffs this year. His team needed him to step up in times when defenses were all over their backcourt duo, in order to take some pressure off and keep the scoreboard ticking. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for the most part during this past season.
#3 Evan Turner
The 30-year-old shooting guard came off the bench in 71 of the 73 games he appeared in for Portland this past regular season. He averaged just 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists in around 22 minutes of game-time per contest.
Moreover, he went scoreless in nine of the sixteen playoff games for the Blazers as his production dropped to an abysmal 2.7 points per game on an unimpressive 32% shooting from the field. This was also his lowest playoff scoring average since his first postseason appearance back in 2011. Turner could only cross the 10 point mark twice during the entire playoffs this year.
As the Blazers crashed out to the mighty Warriors in a one-sided West Finals series, Turner couldn't really be the leader of the second unit for Portland as everyone expected him to be.
