NFL
By: Mark Wilson
In a day and age where players switch teams like New Yorkers change trains, it’s rare to see a player stay with one team for their entire career. For every Kobe Bryant, there is a LeBron James. For every Dirk Nowitzki, there is a Carmelo Anthony. But in this era, the example is Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Since entering the league in 2012, Damian Lillard has known nothing but the Blazers. As a fresh-faced rookie, Lillard would team up and become a fearsome duo with LaMarcus Aldridge for 3 seasons but that duo never made it past the second round of the playoffs. Lillard would become a star by the 2015 season with the team firmly in his hands with Aldridge moving on.
Teamed with CJ McCollum, the Blazers would dazzle and amaze but nothing of substance was ever accomplished that would have his name in the same sentences as Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, and the other great PGs of his time. To his credit, it’s not as if Lillard wasn’t trying. The issue was, that the Blazers’ front office couldn’t not or would not do enough.
Free Agency rolls around every year. There has not been a year where free agency stops. I say that to say, that for some reason, the Blazers were never able to get that big signing that teams like the Los Angeles Lakers were getting. While McCollum and Lillard are homegrown like the core for the Golden State Warriors, not every pick was a slam dunk.
Over time, this would become a problem for not only Blazers’ fans, but basketball fans as a whole. Many believed and still believe that Lillard is wasting away his time in Portland. He’s a bonified superstar with career averages of 24.6 points and 6.6 assists over his 10-year career.
Great numbers, clutch player, good guy off the court but where are the “Blazers can go all the way picks?” Where are the playoff wins that put him in the same category as Curry? What has set Curry apart from Lillard is not his talent, but his front office. The Blazers have yet to grab a player like Kevin Durant or James Harden. Instead, they settle for players like Robert Covington, Hassan Whiteside, and a 35-year-old Anthony.
And then to make matters worse, the Blazers traded his backcourt partner McCollum last season, leaving Lillard in the middle of the ocean with no life jacket.
Can Damian Lillard Win with This Roster
Think about the Blazers roster for the 2022-23 NBA season. Lillard will have Josh Hart, Jerami Grant, Jusuf Nurkic, and Anfernee Simmons. Grant was the big offseason addition but he came from a Piston team where he was considered their top player. Grant is not a player you can build around and truth be told, he’s best suited as a 3rd scoring option.
Nurkic has been solid while with the Trail Blazers. Hart plays great defense, and Simmons came into his own while Lillard was out last season. But can he win with this team when teams such as the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Warriors, Denver Nuggets, and even the Sacrament Kings have improved in his absence?
Rumors have been floating around for years that Lillard’s loyalty to the Blazers will cost him a shot at a championship. While that may be true, Lillard has continued to say all the right things regarding his desire to stay with them. But what happens if this team doesn’t make the playoffs? What happens when Lillard and the Blazers begin to realize that time moves forward and Lillard is not getting any younger?
Heading into next season, Lillard will be 32 years old and by the looks of their roster, the Blazers are setting things up for a rebuild. There is no way they actually believe the roster they have constructed is good enough to give the Phoenix Suns, Clippers, Timberwolves, Warriors, and the other top teams in the Western Conference a real run for their money.
Durant, Harden, hell, and even Ben Simmons knew that it was time to depart their respective teams. But Lillard, he’s cemented his NBA legacy to loyalty. It’s all fine and dandy but Lillard has to understand that this is a business. Going out like Kobe and Dirk looks good but those guys also won. They have a ring to put on their finger for the teams they were loyal to. And best of all, their front office made sure to surround them with the talent needed to get the job done.
When it’s all said and done, Damian Lillard will go down as one of the best PGs to play the game. But he will also be remembered as letting opportunities slip through his fingers due to loyalty to a team that has not been loyal to his talents.
