The Portland Trail Blazers’ season is officially over. What’s next?

The Portland Trail Blazers’ season is officially over.

The San Antonio Spurs knocked out the Blazers Tuesday night in Game 5 of their first-round NBA Playoff series. It was a heartbreaking loss to end a season filled with adversity. Rising stars like Deni Avdija led the Blazers to the postseason for the first time in five years.

The Blazers have also made headlines off the court this year.

Mike Richman is the host of the “Locked on Blazers” podcast. He spoke with “OPB All Things Considered” host Geoff Norcross to look back on the wins and losses of a turbulent season, and discuss the future of the franchise.

This conversation had been edited for length and clarity.

Geoff Norcross: Let’s take a look in the rearview mirror first. This season was plagued with injuries and hardship, but the team still came out with a winning record. How would you judge the team’s performance this year on the whole?

Mike Richman: It’s hard to say it was anything other than a positive. You know, when your coach [Chauncey Billups] gets arrested by the FBI the morning after game one, you are definitely in for a unique experience. So for them to end up where they were with 42 wins and making the playoffs — [it’s] hard to judge it by anything other than a positive. But I think when you get to the end of these seasons in the NBA, you often sort of think more about your limitations, than about your successes.

Norcross: Well, their limitations were on display in the playoffs because the Blazers lost both home games at the Moda Center, blowing double-digit leads that ended in losses. Fans — I’m afraid to say — are all too familiar with heartbreakers like these. What do you think needs to change on the court?

Richman: The sort of most basic thing they just need is more, and better, players. I think when you play against a team as good as the San Antonio Spurs, that team won 62 games; the Blazers won 42 games during the regular season. That 20-game difference was very much on display. ‘Oh, that team has a lot of better dudes!’

So the sort of the basic sense is that the Blazers need to add more talent. What that talent specifically looks like, is they probably need more guys who can shoot, and more guys who can dribble and create their own offense.

Norcross: As you mentioned, head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested at the beginning of the season, and Tiago Splitter was put in charge as interim head coach. How would you judge Splitter’s performance this year, and do you think the Blazers will try to keep him in that role?

Richman: I think he did well. I think the proof of him doing well is where they ended. They won 42 games, they dealt with a bunch of injuries. It’s hard to know sometimes who gets credit for young players stepping forward — ‘is it the brand new coach or is it the players themselves?’

But just the fact that the Blazers didn’t let go of the rope when things were looking really dark in December, suggests that Splitter at least has coaching acumen. I believe strongly that Splitter deserves a very serious consideration. I believe he deserves the first interview as the Blazers are interviewing for coaches.

But it really depends on what the ownership is willing to pay. There’s been a lot of reporting that suggests that they’re trying to pay something like 25% of the going rate for an NBA head coach. If you start there, your options are really limited. So if you’re saying, ‘who can we get at well below market,’ Tiago Splitter might be a wonderful choice at that price.

Norcross: Well it’s funny you mention the penny-pinching, because we have new owners. Tom Dundon leads the new ownership group of the Blazers — and he’s recently faced a bit of public scrutiny over some org-wide penny-pinching. Do you expect this kind of fiscal approach to continue from Blazers leadership?

Richman: I mean, he’s been in charge for one month. If he did it in the first 30 days without — he didn’t exactly wait for a grace period to say ‘Hey, by the way, I’m going to be cheap!’ He kind of just jumped in and started not spending money at a normal level. I can’t imagine that it changes.

I don’t think he will be cheap when it comes to player contracts, but it’s the ancillary spending: it’s the quality of life stuff for players off the floor. It’s spending on scouting and medical staff and coaching staff. It’s the stuff that isn’t governed by a salary cap and league rules. If you’re not willing to spend where there are no rules, it really limits your chances to be competitive.

Norcross: Damian Lillard is back. The star Blazer was out all year coming off of a torn Achilles injury. Fans were very eager to see him again, hoping that he would make a playoff appearance, but that didn’t happen. Can we expect him to come back at the beginning of next season?

Richman: Yeah, I think Dame should be ready. You know, he’ll be 36 [years old] coming off an Achilles injury. It’s hard to kind of know what that looks like in the sport of basketball. But he’ll be a welcomed addition, at least if nothing else, just as a familiar face and a franchise icon back on the court.

Norcross: What are some moves you hope the Blazers make in the offseason to get set up for next year?

Richman: By virtue of making the playoffs, they have at their disposal all of their draft picks they could trade. If they had missed the playoffs, there would have been some mechanisms that would have limited how many draft picks they could potentially trade, but they got everything.

If they want to swing a big trade, they have some version of young players with Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. They’ve got a bunch of draft picks to dole out to sweeten the pot, and they’ve got big money salaries in Jerami Grant or Jrue Holiday to kind of make the deals work financially. I think there is danger in swinging really big when you are at the level of team the Blazers are, but I think there’s also a great deal of danger in standing pat and assuming that you can just grow organically from within.

There’s probably a middle path that is most palatable for me. I’m not sure that I have the specifics of that middle path dialed as we’re chatting right now, Geoff.