22-year old point guard Damian Lillard has been named the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year.  Lillard played in 82 games (all starts) for the Blazers last year and he averaged 38.6 minutes, 19.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.  He shot 42.9% from the floor, 36.8% from three point range and 84.4% from the free throw line last year…..which are pretty good numbers for a rookie these days.  Lillard had 7 double-doubles last year.  He also had 41 games in which he scored at least 20 points, 9 games with 10 or more assists and 5 games with 3 or more steals as a rookie.  Lillard was very consistent offensively and he made every player on the court with him a better player.

55-year old head coach Terry Stotts rode his starters pretty hard in 2012-13 and they broke down late in the 2012-13 season.  The Trailblazers finished up with a 33-49 (40.2%) record in Stotts’ first season as the head coach.  Stotts is now 148-217 (40.5%) in the regular season in his first five years as an NBA head coach and he is also 1-4 (20%) during the playoffs.  I don’t think that Terry Stotts is going to last too long in Portland, if he doesn’t start turning things around in 2013-14.

The Trailblazers carried five rookies on their roster in 2012-13 and they all played a lot.  22-year old point guard Damian Lillard will likely be named the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year in the very near future.  He played in 82 games (all starts) for the Blazers last year and he averaged 38.6 minutes, 19.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.  He had 7 double-doubles as a rookie.  He also scored at least 20 points in a game 41 times, dished out 10 or more assists nine times and he had at least 3 steals in five games in 2012-13.  Lillard has a very, very bright future for the Blazers.  21-year old center Meyers Leonard had a decent rookie year backing up J.J. Hickson.  He played in 69 games (9 starts) for the Blazers last year and he averaged 17.5 minutes, 5.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  Leonard shot 54.5% from the floor and 80.9% from the free throw line as he was a very efficient offensive payer for the Blazers as a rookie.  Leonard only had 1 double-double last year, but he scored at least 10 points in 13 games as a rookie.  22-year old shooting guard Will Barton played well when he moved into the starting lineup late in the season, but his overall numbers were not that impressive.  Barton played in 73 games (5 starts) for the Blazers last year and he averaged 12.2 minutes, 4.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  Barton only shot 38.2% from the floor and 13.8% (9 of 65) from three point range last year.  He did have 1 double-double and he scored at least 10 points in a game 8 times last year.  24-year old small forward Victor Claver also moved into the starting lineup late in the 2012-13 season due to an injury to Nicolas Batum.  Claver played in 49 games (16 starts) for the Blazers last year and he averaged 16.6 minutes, 3.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  He only shot 39.2% from the floor, 28.7% from the three point line and 46.7% from the three point line last year.  Claver had 10 or more points 4 times in his rookie season.  26-year old power forward Joel Freeland played in 51 games (1 start) for the Blazers last year and he averaged 9.4 minutes, 2.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Freeland only shot 40.8% from the floor and 66.7% from the free throw line as a rookie.  Freeland only scored 10 or more points twice in 2012-13.  The Blazers have high hopes for this group of players moving forward.

The Trailblazers lost their last 13 games of the 2012-13 season.  A big part of the reason for the slide was the fact that the Blazers didn’t invest much cash in their bench for the 2012-13 season.  When some of the starters got hurt (from playing a ton of minutes), they had to play some untalented players a lot of minutes.  The Blazers finished in 4th place in the Northwest Division, 27 games behind the Thunder.  Here is a look at the players who made the biggest impacts for the Blazers in 2012-13, in my opinion:

TEAM MVP:  LaMarcus Aldridge - Rookie point guard Damian Lillard deserved consideration here, but 27-year old power forward LaMarcus Aldridge is still the best player on the team.  He played in 74 games (all starts) for the Blazers last year and he averaged 37.7 minutes, 21.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  Aldridge also had a very impressive 38 double-doubles in 2012-13.

BIGGEST SURPRISE:  J.J. Hickson - 24-year old power forward J.J. Hickson played out of position at center for the Blazers in 2012-13, and he did a solid job.  Hickson played in 80 games (all starts) for the Blazers last year and he averaged 29.0 minutes, 12.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  Hickson had 40 double-doubles for the Blazers last year!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:  Jared Jeffries - The whole bench sucked for the Blazers (outside of Eric Maynor and Meyers Leonard), so almost any of them could be considered the biggest disappointment.  But, Jeffries has already been let go by the Blazers, so I’m going with him here.  He played in 38 games (0 starts) for the Blazers last year and he averaged 9.2 minutes, 2.6 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  He only shot 29.6% from the floor and 52.2% from the free throw line this year.

The Trailblazers have waived 31-year old forward Jared Jeffries.  He played in 38 games (0 starts) for the Blazers last year and he averaged 9.2 minutes, 1.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Jeffries has now played in 629 games (335 starts) in his first 11 years in the NBA and he is averaging 21.6 minutes, 4.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  This is no loss for the Blazers moving forward as Jeffries did next to nothing for them in 2012-13.

22-year old shooting guard Will Barton has been stepping up in April for the Blazers.  He has played in 8 games (4 starts) so far in April and he is averaging 26.3 minutes, 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  Overall this year, Barton has played in 72 games (4 starts) in which he is averaging 11.7 minutes, 3.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  He is only shooting 38.3% from the floor and 12.7% from the three point line so far this year.  At least Barton is finishing strongly this year, which will give him a shot to possibly play more for the Blazers next year.

The Portland Trailblazers are now 33-47 on the year and they have lost 11 games in a row.  A big reason for the collapse is an utter lack of an NBA caliber bench.  22-year old rookie point guard Damian Lillard raised the level of the players around him this year and that’s a big reason why he will be the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year.  Lillard has played in 80 games (all starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 38.6 minutes, 19.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.  27-year old power forward LaMarcus Aldridge also had an outstanding year for the Blazers in 2012-13.  He has played in 73 games (all starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 37.8 minutes, 21.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  24-year old J.J. Hickson, 24-year old small forward Nicolas Batum and 26-year old shooting guard Wesley Matthews also had solid years for the Blazers.  Hickson has played in 78 games (all starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 29.2 minutes, 12.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  Batum has now played in 73 games (all starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 38.5 minutes, 14.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game.  Matthews has played in 69 games (all starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 34.8 minutes, 14.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Hopefully the Blazers learn their lesson and improve the bench for the 2013-14 season.

24-year old SG/PG Nolan Smith is done for the rest of the 2012-13 season due to a partial tear of his patella tendon.  Smith played in 40 games (0 starts) in 2012-13 for the Blazers and he averaged 7.2 minutes, 2.8 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  Smith has now played in 84 games (4 starts) in his first two years with the Blazers and he is averaging 9.9 minutes, 3.3 points, 1.0 rebound and 1.2 assists per game.  Smith has been a huge disappointment for the Blazers in his first two years in the NBA.

24-year old center J.J. Hickson is likely playing his last games for the Trailblazers.  He deserves credit for turning in a good year for the Blazers in 2012-13.  He has played in 76 games (all starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 12.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  He has 40 double-doubles so far this year.  They have been cutting back his minutes a little bit to get a better look at rookie center Meyers Leonard.  Hickson has played in 4 games (all starts) so far in April and he is averaging 26.5 minutes, 10.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  Hickson was playing out of position at center as he is a natural power forward, as the Blazers want a better defensive center in 2013-14 and beyond.

With Nicolas Batum banged up right now, the Blazers will have to turn to 24-year old rookie Victor Claver as their new starting small forward.  He has played in 2 games (1 start) for the Blazers so far in April and he is averaging 27.6 minutes, 9.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  He has played in 42 games (9 starts) overall this year for the Blazers and he is averaging 14.5 minutes, 3.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  But, he is only shooting 40.6% from the floor, 27.4% from three point range and 40% from the free throw line so far this year and that just isn’t going to cut it.