1995–96 Portland Trail Blazers season

The 1995–96 Portland Trail Blazers season was the 26th season for the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association. After spending their first 25 years at the Memorial Coliseum, the team began playing at the new Rose Garden Arena this season. The Trail Blazers acquired the eighth overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft from the Detroit Pistons via trade, and selected shooting guard Shawn Respert out of Michigan State University, but soon traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for rookie power forward, and top draft pick Gary Trent out of Ohio University. During the off-season, the team signed free agent and second-year forward Dontonio Wingfield. Rookie center Arvydas Sabonis from Lithuania, who was drafted by the Trail Blazers as the 24th overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft, made his debut in the NBA this season.

With the addition of Sabonis and Trent, the Trail Blazers struggled losing six of their first nine games of the regular season, but then won eight of their next eleven games. However, the team posted a six-game losing streak afterwards, and later on held a 24–24 record at the All-Star break. The Trail Blazers fell below .500 in winning percentage by losing ten of their next twelve games, holding a 26–34 record as of March 5, 1996. However, the team won 18 of their final 22 games of the season, which included a six-game winning streak in March, and a seven-game winning streak between March and April. The Trail Blazers finished in fourth place in the Pacific Division with a 44–38 record, which was the same record as the previous season, and earned the sixth seed in the Western Conference; the team also made their 14th consecutive trip to the NBA playoffs, and 19th in 20 years.

Clifford Robinson averaged 21.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, and led the Trail Blazers with 178 three-point field goals, while Rod Strickland averaged 18.7 points, 9.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and Sabonis provided the team with 14.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. In addition, second-year guard Aaron McKie contributed 10.7 points per game, while Harvey Grant provided with 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Off the bench, James Robinson contributed 8.5 points per game and 102 three-point field goals, and Trent provided with 7.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. On the defensive side, Buck Williams averaged 7.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game off the bench, and Chris Dudley contributed 5.1 points, and led the team with 9.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Clifford Robinson participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, while Sabonis was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Western Conference Rookie team. Sabonis finished in second place in Rookie of the Year voting, behind Damon Stoudamire of the expansion Toronto Raptors, and also finished in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, behind Toni Kukoč of the Chicago Bulls.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1996 NBA playoffs, the Trail Blazers faced off against the 3rd–seeded Utah Jazz, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Karl Malone, All-Star guard John Stockton, and Jeff Hornacek. The Trail Blazers lost the first two games to the Jazz on the road at the Delta Center, but managed to win the next two games at home, which included a Game 4 win over the Jazz at the Rose Garden Arena, 98–90 to even the series. However, the Trail Blazers lost Game 5 to the Jazz at the Delta Center, suffering by a 38-point margin, 102–64, thus losing in a hard-fought five-game series; it was the fourth consecutive year that the Trail Blazers lost in the opening round of the NBA playoffs.

The Trail Blazers finished fourth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 848,055 at the Rose Garden Arena during the regular season. In addition, this season also saw the Trail Blazers fail to sell out a home game, ending their 814-game sellout streak, for the first time since 1977; this streak would be the longest in NBA history until the Dallas Mavericks broke it during the 2019–20 season.

Following the season, Strickland, who feuded with head coach P.J. Carlesimo during the regular season, was traded along with Grant to the Washington Bullets, whom Grant used to play for, while Williams signed as a free agent with the New York Knicks, and James Robinson was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.