Portland Trail Blazers trade rumors update: Could current big men help lead the Blazers?

In the NBA, the battle for positioning begins in their respective divisions and the Portland Trail Blazers may finally have their breakthrough in the 2016-17 campaign.

As part of the northwest division, the Blazers find themselves with the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In recent memory, it has always been the Thunder who dominated the division but with Kevin Durant moving out to join the Golden State Warriors, many argue that this year may be the time for the Blazers to shine.

It will not be easy though. Despite losing Durant, the Thunder still has a relatively good lineup led by Russell Westbrook. The other contenders in the division have also improved, with the biggest consideration to the Timberwolves which is a young team and recently gained loads of experience under its belt.

However, the Blazers are in their prime and have retained the important pieces that they had from the previous season. More importantly, their backcourt tandem of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum is still intact. They also acquired veterans like Evan Turner and Festus Ezeli to help them along the way.

Despite all these, many believe that the Blazers' big men, Ed Davis and Meyers Leonard, should step up in order to help the Blazers get on the next level. According to SB Nation, the two must start playing their roles in order to help the other stars in the team.

Davis is now in playing his second season with the Blazers and had a relatively good first year with the team, averaging 6.5 points and 7.4 rebounds in only under 21 minutes of play. He played 81 games for the team and should be given more minutes if he continues to show improvement.

Meanwhile, Leonard has steadily improved every year but at 24 years old, it is time for him to step up even more. He finished last season averaging 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and those numbers should increase if he wants to remain a pivotal piece in the Blazers' rotation.

While the future of the team does not entirely rely on the two big men, it would definitely help their cause if Davis and Leonard maximized their potential and played at their best.