Editing Portland Trail Blazers (section)

=== 1980–1983: Transitioning ===
During the 1980s, the team was a consistent presence in the NBA postseason, failing to qualify for the playoffs only in 1982. However, they never advanced past the conference semifinals during the decade.<ref name="cbs">{{Cite web |title=Portland Trail Blazers (team profile) |url=http://www.sportsline.com/nba/teams/history/POR |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016221620/http://sportsline.com/nba/teams/history/POR |archive-date=October 16, 2007 |access-date=November 6, 2007 |website=CBS Sportsline.com (NBA) |publisher=[[CBS]] Sports}}</ref> The [[Pacific Division (NBA)|Pacific Division]] of the NBA was dominated by the [[Los Angeles Lakers]] throughout the decade, and only the Lakers and the [[Houston Rockets]] represented the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. Key players for the Blazers during the early 1980s included [[Mychal Thompson]], [[Billy Ray Bates]], [[Fat Lever]], [[Darnell Valentine]], [[Wayne Cooper (basketball)|Wayne Cooper]], [[T. R. Dunn]], [[Jim Paxson]], and [[Calvin Natt]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}