The computer simulations think very highly of Portland's chances this year.

Basketball Prospectus has the Blazers first in the West, with 55 wins, a 35% chance of winning the Western Conference championship, and an 18% chance of winning the NBA championship. We are second only to Miami, which wins 58 games, has a 53% chance of winning the Eastern conference championship, and a 37% chance of winning the NBA championship.

http://www.basketballprospectus.com/...articleid=1219

Basketball-Reference.com has the Blazers 2nd in the West, with 57 wins, a 32% chance of winning the Western Conference championship, and an 10% chance of winning the NBA championship. In the West, we are second only to the Lakers, which also wins 57 games, has a 35% chance of winning the Eastern conference championship, and a 11% chance of winning the NBA championship. In the East, we are behind Miami (64, 67%, 53%) and Orlando (58, 19%, 12%).

http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=7896

Maybe our championship window is NOW!