Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the threats in the Western Conference

The Wild Card Of The Wild West – The Portland Trail Blazers:

To say that last season’s NBA Western Conference Finals losers are the wild card team to cause problems in the West for the Los Angeles Lakers is a testament to just how strong the Western Conference is. The Portland Trail Blazers took down the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets to play the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, where they eventually got swept. That was without their starting Center in Jusuf Nurkic, who was replaced by Enes Kanter. Portland has practically that same roster with the deduction of Enes Kanter and the addition of Hassan Whiteside.

Whiteside is an underrated big man in this league with an incredible ability to protect the rim and rebound. His poor attitude caused some trouble in Miami, but his numbers don’t lie. He scored 12 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and blocked two shots last season in just 23 minutes per game. Kanter did basically the same in the points and rebounds categories but lacked the defensive prowess that Whiteside possesses. Nurkic is going to come back eventually, which makes this roster slightly better than it was a couple of months ago when it was competing to play in the NBA Finals.

As good of a duo Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are, the Portland Trail Blazers might not have what it takes to take down a LeBron James and Anthony Davis led Los Angeles Lakers. The Blazers do have the capability to beat some, if not all, of the teams in the West that will truly get in the way of the Los Angeles Lakers’ chances of winning an NBA title this season.