Damian Lillard has spent his entire NBA career with the Portland Trailblazers. This team has had some good seasons with him there but also some really average and even bad ones. This season may turn out to be one of their worst with him there. They are just 31-38 and may not even make the play-in games as a 10 or better seed in the Western Conference.
Despite that, Lillard is averaging 32.3 points per game, the most he has ever averaged for a season. Since the Blazers made the Western Conference Finals in 2019, the Blazers and Lillard have not made it as far as the first round of the playoffs and now they look like they will miss them for the second year in a row.
Last season the Blazers traded the team’s second-best player, CJ McCollum. Now Lillard could be on the trading block as well, despite him not wanting to be traded. Portland may have to decide that they just can’t win with Lillard and a decent supporting cast. If they trade him for multiple first-round picks they can rebuild around Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe and those picks.
It may be Dame’s final season in Portland if they don’t make the playoffs.
Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Damian_Lillard_against_the_Cleveland_Cavaliers.jpg