8. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard was literally carrying Portland on his back this season, averaging a ridiculous 28.9 points and 7.8 assists per contest, both career highs. A groin injury just before All-Star weekend put him on the shelf, but just before that, Lillard went on a historic run.
In late January, he averaged 48.8 points per game across six contests, including two games of 50-plus and one where Lillard dropped 61. The 29-year-old returned from his injury just before the pandemic came along and will be healthy if the NBA season does return.
Portland was in ninth place and eight games under .500, but there’s no doubt that Lillard was doing his part. He was lethal from downtown this season as well, draining 39 percent of 10 attempts per night, also a career-high. Offensively, the Blazers were still a good team this year, but on the defensive end, they were dreadful, allowing opponents to average 115.2 points against them per game. So even though Lillard was having a historic season, it didn’t seem to really help his team because they were so bad defensively.
Nonetheless, his numbers across the board speak for themselves. Lillard is a star.