The Portland Trail Blazers are coming off of an exciting season last year, and are poised to take another step forward in the Western Conference. They were extremely happy with the improvement that Damian Lillard made, and once again were given an impressive season by power forward LaMarcus Aldridge. It will be interesting to see what they’re able to do this season, but they have the type of talent to be one of the top teams in the West once again.

There are plenty of things that Portland could improve on from last season, and they did lose a major piece in Mo Williams this past offseason. Adding Steve Blake was a very nice move for them, and they also brought in veteran big man Chris Kaman to give them depth in the corner. They are still going to have some question marks heading into the season, but their overall roster is in very good shape.

It will be intriguing to see how Lillard plays this season, after another offseason of hard work and preparing to take an even larger role. The Blazers truly believe that they can compete with teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Los Angeles Clippers. There is no doubt that the Western Conference is going to be a tight race once again as the playoff race heats up, and Portland is expected to be right in the middle of it.

What five bold predictions can be made about the 2014-15 Trail Blazers?