So you think December was really bad; I'd contend it was July that was really bad when the roster was put together that
@TBpup mentioned?
If the Blazers had some more wins in December they would've just came back to reality in January. That roster was a joke for trying to legit win with Dame. A few losses in December didn't rob the team of some winning contending chance, that roster just never had it.
The team put themselves in a position of having to full on tank midway through the year from either incompetence or an elaborate entire year stealth losing campaign. I'd love if it was the latter, but I'm afraid it was the former and we're now getting set to repeat that process the following year.