1996–97 Portland Trail Blazers season

The 1996–97 Portland Trail Blazers season was the 27th season for the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association.

Season summary

Off-season The Trail Blazers had the 17th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft, and selected power forward, and high school basketball star Jermaine O'Neal. During the off-season, the team signed free agent Kenny Anderson, acquired Isaiah Rider from the Minnesota Timberwolves, and acquired second-year forward Rasheed Wallace and Mitchell Butler from the Washington Bullets.

Regular season With the addition of Anderson, Rider and Wallace, the Trail Blazers got off to a 12–8 start to the regular season, but then lost seven of their next nine games, falling below .500 in winning percentage with a 14–15 start to the season. However, the team posted a five-game winning streak afterwards, but later on posted a five-game losing streak between January and February, holding a 25–23 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Aaron McKie to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Stacey Augmon in January. The Trail Blazers posted a 13–2 record in March, which included an 11-game winning streak between February and March, and then won their final four games of the season, finishing in third place in the Pacific Division with a 49–33 record, and earning the fifth seed in the Western Conference; the team qualified for the NBA playoffs for the 15th consecutive year, and also for the 20th time in 21 years.

Anderson averaged 17.5 points, 7.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, and led the Trail Blazers with 132 three-point field goals, while Rider averaged 16.1 points per game, and Clifford Robinson contributed 15.1 points per game and 121 three-point field goals. In addition, Wallace provided the team with 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, but only played 62 games due to a broken thumb, while second-year center Arvydas Sabonis provided with 13.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Off the bench, second-year forward Gary Trent averaged 10.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while Augmon contributed 4.7 points per game in 40 games after the trade, Dontonio Wingfield provided with 4.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, and Chris Dudley averaged 3.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Wallace also finished in third place in Most Improved Player voting. The Trail Blazers had the seventh best team defensive rating in the NBA.

The Trail Blazers finished third in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 852,798 at the Rose Garden Arena during the regular season.

NBA playoffs In the Western Conference First Round of the 1997 NBA playoffs, the Trail Blazers faced off against the 4th–seeded Los Angeles Lakers, who were led by the trio of All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal, All-Star guard Eddie Jones, and Nick Van Exel. The Trail Blazers lost the first two games to the Lakers on the road at the Great Western Forum, but managed to win Game 3 at home, 98–90 at the Rose Garden Arena. However, the Trail Blazers lost Game 4 to the Lakers at home, 95–91, thus losing the series in four games; it was the fifth consecutive year that the Trail Blazers lost in the opening round of the NBA playoffs.

Notable highlights A forgotten highlight of the regular season occurred on April 16, 1997, in which the Trail Blazers defeated the Denver Nuggets at home by a 44-point margin, 107–63 at the Rose Garden Arena. The Trail Blazers held the Nuggets to only just eight points in the first quarter, and later on held a 53–22 lead at halftime; the Nuggets struggled only shooting just .284 in field-goal percentage.

Aftermath Following the season, head coach P. J. Carlesimo was fired after three seasons with the Trail Blazers, while Robinson signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Suns after eight seasons in Portland, Dudley was traded to the New York Knicks in a three-team trade, and Butler signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 17 Jermaine O'Neal PF/C Eau Claire HS (Columbia, SC) 2 46 Marcus Brown PG Murray State

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

Playoffs

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 25 | @ L.A. Lakers | L 77–95 | Wallace, Sabonis (18) | Chris Dudley (11) | Isaiah Rider (5) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 27 | @ L.A. Lakers | L 93–107 | Rasheed Wallace (20) | Clifford Robinson (10) | Kenny Anderson (7) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | April 30 | L.A. Lakers | W 98–90 | Kenny Anderson (30) | Chris Dudley (7) | Kenny Anderson (5) | Rose Garden21,538 | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | May 2 | L.A. Lakers | L 91–95 | Arvydas Sabonis (23) | Arvydas Sabonis (10) | Kenny Anderson (5) | Rose Garden21,538 | 1–3

Player statistics

Regular season PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 82 81 37.6 .427 .361 .768 4.4 7.1 2.0 .2 17.5 82 28 23.4 .536 .000 .699 5.2 1.1 .6 .4 10.8 81 79 38.0 .426 .346 .696 4.0 3.2 1.2 .8 15.1 81 14 22.7 .430 .474 7.3 .5 .5 1.2 3.9 76 68 33.7 .464 .385 .812 4.0 2.6 .6 .3 16.1 69 68 25.5 .498 .371 .777 7.9 2.1 .9 1.2 13.4 62 56 30.5 .558 .273 .638 6.8 1.2 .8 1.0 15.1 49 1 9.5 .416 .308 .640 1.1 .6 .3 .0 3.0 47 0 12.1 .409 .338 .675 2.9 1.0 .3 .1 4.5 45 0 10.2 .451 .000 .603 2.8 .2 .0 .6 4.1† 41 8 18.9 .340 .418 .837 2.3 2.0 .8 .4 4.1† 40 7 16.3 .517 .732 2.2 1.0 .8 .2 4.7† 27 0 10.9 .402 .391 .870 1.1 1.9 .7 .0 3.5 21 0 8.8 .400 .406 .684 .7 1.0 .4 .1 3.9† 19 0 6.6 .333 .188 .750 .3 .8 .4 .0 1.5† 9 0 11.0 .500 .400 2.6 1.2 .6 .3 2.2 8 0 7.6 .500 .714 .800 .6 .6 .0 .0 3.1 3 0 7.3 .500 1.0 1.0 .0 .0 1.3† 2 0 9.5 .500 .000 .0 2.5 1.5 .0 4.0

Playoffs PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 4 4 42.3 .478 .263 .950 4.3 4.8 1.8 .3 17.0 4 4 40.3 .372 .375 .882 2.0 4.3 .8 .0 13.3 4 4 40.3 .362 .188 .688 6.8 3.0 .5 1.0 12.0 4 4 37.0 .589 .400 .550 6.0 1.5 .5 .5 19.8 4 4 27.0 .429 .250 .875 6.5 2.3 .8 .8 11.3 4 0 17.3 .455 .333 7.0 .8 .5 1.3 3.0 4 0 15.3 .448 .000 .545 3.0 1.0 .0 .3 8.0 4 0 8.8 .333 .750 .3 .8 .3 .0 1.8 4 0 6.0 .333 .000 1.000 .3 1.3 .3 .0 1.3 3 0 5.3 1.000 1.000 .7 .3 .3 .0 2.7 2 0 2.0 .500 .5 .0 .0 .0 1.0 2 0 2.0 .000 .000 .000 .5 .0 .0 .5 .0

Player statistics citation:

Transactions

Trades July 15, 1996 To Portland Trail BlazersMitchell ButlerRasheed Wallace To Washington BulletsHarvey GrantRod Strickland July 23, 1996 To Portland Trail BlazersIsaiah Rider To Minnesota TimberwolvesBill CurleyJames Robinson1997 1st-round pick January 24, 1997 To Portland Trail BlazersStacey Augmon To Detroit PistonsRandolph ChildressReggie JordanAaron McKie

Free agents AdditionsPlayerDate signedFormer teamKenny AndersonJuly 23Charlotte HornetsReggie JordanAugust 30Atlanta HawksAleksandar ĐorđevićSeptember 20Fortitudo Bologna (Italy)Ennis Whatley (10-day)January 24Presto Tivolis (Philippines)Ruben Nembhard (10-day)January 30noneRumeal Robinson (10-day)February 24Connecticut Pride (CBA)

SubtractionsPlayerDate signedNew TeamBuck WilliamsJuly 23New York KnicksRumeal Robinsonsigned with team later in seasonElmore SpencerSeattle SuperSonicsJason SasserOctober 16Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA)Aleksandar ĐorđevićDecember 27FC Barcelona (Spain)

Player transactions citation:

References