Portland Trail Blazers: 21-14 (5th place in the Western Conference) 

After a very impressive offseason adding Enes Kanter, Robert Covington, Derrick Jones Jr. and re-signing both Carmelo Anthony and Rodney Hood, the Portland Trail Blazers were picked by many to be one of the teams to beat in the West, but much like the Pacers, injuries have really affected the Trail Blazers. 

Unlike the Pacers though, Portland has a guy named Damian Lillard who is pretty good at basketball and it has been “Dame Time” all season long. The All-Star guard has averaged 29.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 8.0 assists and has shot 38.4% from three-point range, carrying the Trail Blazers to a 21-14 record to this point. 

Both C.J. McCollum and Jusef Nurkic are starting to get back out on the court in individual workouts and are just a couple of weeks away from being back out there on the court for the Trail Blazers. At full strength, they can absolutely be one of the top teams in the Western Conference and a real title contending team. 

RELATED: NBA Analysis: 3 intriguing future trade targets for Portland Trail Blazers to monitor

Expect to see the Portland Trail Blazers make some kind of move near the trade deadline to add more talent to their roster and expect to see Damian Lillard continue to elevate his play. He is one of the top players in the entire league and he will do anything to make sure the Portland Trail Blazers are in contention at the end of the year.