No love for the original Blazer, Geoff Petrie. He was a joy to watch.
Everyone’s list is either from our great teams or recency biased, no love for Petrie, Mychal Thompson, Jim Paxson or any others who played a key part to keeping the Blazers relevant during non-glory years in days past?
I started watching in 1990, so I missed out on seeing Jim Paxson but looking through the franchise leaderboards, he's littered throughout. I think LaMarcus is a lot like Paxson in that sense; he has the career numbers as a Trail Blazer to make in an all-time great, but it sort of stops at that. Neither player had any resemblance of success in the postseason -- Aldridge as the man won a grand total of one playoff series in nine seasons. Aside from the back-to-back 40+ outbursts to start the Houston series, are there any memorable moments? Factoring in the Memphis series and him leaving in Free Agency (yes, that is his right but it counts to me if we're talking BLAZERS legacy), and he's a borderline Top 10 Blazer.
My list:
1a - Damian Lillard
Best offensive player in team history. Memorable moments galore. Puts on for Rip City like none other. A little more playoff success and this debate is a wrap.
1b - Clyde Drexler
Still the Blazers stat GOAT. Best player on the best era. Two-way wing who did it on both ends of the court. Great teammate. Unselfish.
3 - Bill Walton
Champ. MVP. It's too bad his peak was cut short, but no Blazer has even come close to reaching Walton's peak in 77-78.
4 - Terry Porter
Incredibly underrated league-wide. Clutch playoff performer. Out-performed Stockton in 91+92. Would have THRIVED in this 3-pt era.
5 - Maurice Lucas
The Enforcer. Game 2 in Philly. What more can you say about Luke?
6 - Jerome Kersey
Warrior. The heart and soul of the best era in franchise history. No one out-worked Kersey and he always showed up in the playoffs.
7 - Rasheed Wallace
One of the most dominant teams in our era had no answer for him; spectacular player on both ends of the floor
8 - Brandon Roy
Incredible peak; just wish it was longer
9 - Buck Williams
There's a reason fans keep hoping another "Buck Williams" trade gets made. Like Lucas, Buck elevated a good team and made it great.
10 - Cliff Robinson
Help make Portland cool; every kid wanted to wear a headband like Cliff. Went from 6th Man of the Year to All-Star.
Just missed the cut (no order):
- LaMarcus Aldridge
I think recency bias has him higher in some lists than he really is. Great numbers but not a lot to show for it. Factored in the way he left the team.
- Geoff Petrie
The OG Blazer, but it's hard to find a spot in the Top 10 when the squad became dominant the moment he got traded for Lucas
- Arvydas Sabonis
One of the only players on this list to play his entire career in Rip City. Had we won it all in 2000 or had he been able to come to Portland earlier in his career, he's a Mt. Rushmore candidate.
- Kevin Duckworth
Two-time All-Star. Most Improved in the late 80's. Our gentle giant.
- CJ McCollum
CJ's close to cracking the Top 10. Soon enough he'll have the statistics to warrant the selection and he's already got more memorable moments than a player like Aldridge. That Denver series, and Game 7 in particular, is the stuff of Blazers legend; I value that extremely high when putting these lists together.