The 2014-15 NBA season felt like a fever dream for fans in the Pacific Northwest. If you were following the Portland Trail Blazers back then, you remember the buzz. It was electric. The team was cruising. They had this starting five that felt almost telepathic, a group that had played more minutes together than almost any other unit in the league. But then, it all just... vanished.
Most people look back at the trail blazers 2015 roster as a "what if" story, and honestly, they aren't wrong. It was the last stand of the LaMarcus Aldridge era. It was the moment Damian Lillard truly took the keys to the franchise, though nobody knew quite how soon he’d have to drive solo.
The Starting Five That Nobody Wanted to Face
Let's talk about that lineup. It was iconic. Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Robin Lopez.
On paper, it was perfect balance. You had Dame, the young assassin. You had Wes, the "Ironman" who provided the soul and the perimeter defense. Batum was the Swiss Army knife who could pass, rebound, and occasionally disappear—but when he was on, he was brilliant. RoLo brought the grit and the weird obsession with mascots. And then there was LaMarcus.
Aldridge was a mid-range god. People forget how dominant he was in 2015. He was averaging 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds. He was the focal point. Everything ran through him on the left block. If you doubled him, he found Batum in the corner. If you played him straight up, he just turned over his right shoulder and faded away. Swish. Every single time.
The Injury That Changed Everything
March 5, 2015. Write that date down. It’s the day the season died.
The Blazers were playing the Dallas Mavericks. Wesley Matthews went to drive, and suddenly, he was on the floor clutching his heel. Ruptured Achilles. Just like that, the heart of the team was gone. Wes was the guy who guarded the opposing team's best player. He was the league leader in three-pointers made at one point that season.
Without him, the trail blazers 2015 roster lost its defensive identity.
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They tried to patch the hole. They traded for Arron Afflalo at the deadline, thinking he could be the scoring punch off the bench or a safety net. It didn't work. Afflalo got hurt too. By the time the playoffs rolled around, the Blazers were a shell of themselves. They ran into a Memphis Grizzlies team that was basically a collection of brick walls and grit. Portland lost in five games. It wasn't even close, really.
The Bench and the Supporting Cast
People trash the Blazers' depth that year, but it wasn't terrible. It was just top-heavy.
C.J. McCollum was there, but he wasn't C.J. McCollum yet. He was a sophomore struggling to find consistent minutes behind Matthews and Afflalo. You could see the flashes, though. In that final playoff series against Memphis, he actually started to cook, hinting at the star turn he'd take the following year.
Then you had guys like Chris Kaman. Kaman was hilarious. He looked like he just stepped off a mountain, but his post game was fundamentally sound. He gave them a veteran presence. Meyers Leonard was also in the mix, stretching the floor and making fans scream—sometimes in excitement, often in frustration.
Dorell Wright and Steve Blake provided some veteran stability, but when the injuries piled up, the drop-off from the starters to the reserves became a canyon. You can't replace an All-Star caliber wing with a rotating door of role players and expect to compete in a brutal Western Conference.
Why 2015 Was the Ultimate Turning Point
If you look at the transactions after that season, it’s staggering.
LaMarcus Aldridge left for San Antonio in free agency. Nicolas Batum was traded to Charlotte for Noah Vonleh and Gerald Henderson. Wesley Matthews signed with Dallas. Robin Lopez headed to the Knicks. Four out of five starters were gone.
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Basically, the 2015 roster was a bridge. On one side, you had the remnants of the Brandon Roy/Greg Oden era hopes that had been transferred onto Aldridge. On the other side, you had the "Dame Time" era.
Dame was only 24. He was an All-Star, sure, but he was still the second option in the eyes of many. The 2015 collapse forced him to become the undisputed leader of the franchise overnight. It's the reason he became the player he is today. He had to carry a roster of "misfits" the very next year to the second round of the playoffs, defying every expert who predicted Portland would win 20 games.
The Forgotten Names of 2015
Remember Joel Freeland? The British big man? He was a solid backup who just couldn't stay healthy. What about Victor Claver? He was a favorite among the "draft and stash" enthusiasts who never quite found his footing in the NBA's pace.
These guys were part of a team that won 51 games. 51! In the West!
That’s the tragedy of the trail blazers 2015 roster. If Wes doesn't go down, do they beat Memphis? Maybe. Do they give the Warriors a run? Probably not, because that was the year Golden State truly exploded. But they would have been a tough out. They had the size to bother people and the shooting to keep up.
A Legacy of "What If"
Looking back, the 2015 Blazers are a case study in how fragile NBA windows are. One ligament pops, and a half-decade of team building evaporates in a weekend.
When you look at the stats, the starting unit had a Net Rating that was among the best in the league. They defended. They shared the ball. They played for each other.
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The exit of Aldridge remains a sore spot for many fans, but it’s hard to blame the guy for wanting to go home to Texas. However, the way it happened—the "I want to be the best Blazer ever" comments followed by a quiet departure—left a mark. It turned the 2015 season from a celebration into a eulogy for a specific style of Portland basketball.
Takeaways for the Modern Fan
If you're looking back at this roster to understand today's NBA, here’s what you should keep in mind:
- Roster Continuity Matters: The Blazers' success was built on years of the same guys playing together. When that broke, the system collapsed.
- The "Ironman" Fallacy: Wesley Matthews was considered indestructible until he wasn't. Modern load management, for all its faults, is a direct response to the kind of season-ending disasters Portland faced.
- Secondary Stars: The development of C.J. McCollum in the shadows of the 2015 roster shows why you always keep developing your young talent, even when you're in "win now" mode.
To really get a feel for this era, go back and watch highlights of the 2014-15 season before March. The ball movement was beautiful. The crowd at the Moda Center was as loud as it's ever been. It was a brief, shining moment where Portland felt like a true contender.
If you want to dig deeper into the stats, check out the Basketball-Reference page for that year. Look at the win-loss splits before and after the Matthews injury. It tells the whole story without saying a word. You can also look for old "Blazer's Edge" articles from that spring to feel the palpable anxiety of a fanbase watching their dream season slip away.
History moved on, and Dame became a legend, but the 2015 squad remains the great "almost" of the modern era.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Review the Splits: Go to Basketball-Reference and compare the Portland Trail Blazers' defensive rating before and after March 5, 2015. It highlights exactly how much a single role player can anchor a system.
- Watch the Memphis Series: Find the Game 4 highlights from the 2015 playoffs. It was the "Meyers Leonard/C.J. McCollum" game that essentially served as the passing of the torch from the old guard to the new era.
- Check the Transactions: Look at the July 2015 transaction log for the NBA. It is one of the most chaotic months in franchise history and explains why the team looked completely different by October.