Portland Trail Blazers: Roster moves enough for Damian Lillard?

Weeks ago, Damian Lillard set the record straight that he wasn’t leaving Portland. Dame might be sure, but can the Portland Trail Blazers surround him with enough talent to make his stay competitive?

Amidst an era of basketball that has seen countless players ask out of less-than-ideal situations, Damian Lillard has remained calm and collected. Accumulating six All-Star selections, making six All-NBA teams, and dropping in jumpers from postal codes in Oregon and beyond, Lillard has established himself as arguably the greatest player in Portland Trail Blazers franchise history.

Taking Portland to the second round twice, and the Conference Finals in 2019, Lillard has been at the forefront of every key moment for Portland this decade, be it a walk-off game-winner or a fourth-quarter collapse.

In an Instagram live on August 25th, Lillard confirmed to viewers that his intentions are to stay with Portland. What Portland’s franchise icon failed to elaborate on is the length of his stay. It is no surprise that over the past nine years Damian Lillard has been subject to every suggestion for his opportunities to demand considerable roster improvement or even a trade.

During his time with the Blazers, Lillard has played with CJ McCollum, Carmelo Anthony, Jusuf Nurkić, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Nicolas Batum. If that list fails to astound you, then you would be processing things right. Among all of Lillard’s teammates, just three have made All-Star Teams and just two have made All-NBA teams; Aldridge and Anthony. Of course, leaving the best for last, 2010 NBA All-Star Chris Kaman.

Even with the seemingly countless game-winning, jaw-dropping plays that Lillard has strung together in his career, it always seems to culminate in a lackluster manner. Making the playoffs for the past eight years has placed Lillard in that conversation that so many players fall into; he needs more help; he needs to go somewhere else.

So, with Lillard’s confirmation of his desire to remain a Blazer, for now, the onus falls on Portland’s front office to ensure that his remaining time is spent as a title contender. This off-season, Portland has added Larry Nance Jr., Ben McLemore, Tony Snell, Cody Zeller, and brought back Norman Powell. Dennis Smith Jr., Marquese Chriss, and now Patrick Patterson have been extended Training Camp invites and will compete for spots on the final roster.

Holding tight to the core of Lillard, McCollum, and Nurkić, rounded out by Robert Covington, and Anfernee Simons, Portland’s front office seems oddly comfortable re-shuffling the deck of role players each offseason, apparently hoping for the perfect group of guys to surround Damian Lillard’s superstar play to come together eventually. To be fair, McCollum, Nurkić, and Covington are formidable players, but the lack of true depth and roster consistency over the more competitive years of Lillard’s career have left something to be desired.

Damian Lillard is 31, and on contract with the Portland Trail Blazers through to the 2024-25 NBA season. No team option, no player option. With guaranteed contracts set to cost the Blazers at least $104 Million for the next three years, something has to give. However, Barring salary-cap wizardry, a blockbuster trade, or an immensely successful payoff from 2021 Draft Pick Greg Brown III, it seems that the Damian Lillard one-man show may just have to stay on the air.

With that in mind, let it be made clear that the reviews for Lillard’s screen time have been nothing short of exceptional. The only issue is that while Portland seems to have been reloading their roster for the past few years, many more teams have formed devastatingly talented squads, many of them residing in the NBA’s Western Conference. Nobody can doubt Damian Lillard’s ability or desire to will his team to victory, but those occurrences rarely happen four series’ in a row. Lillard has proven his worth, now Portland needs to prevent the next four seasons from mirroring the last eight.

With the 2021-22 NBA season drawing nearer, Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers are left to prepare and practice for what may be one of the most testing seasons of Dame’s career. Their first test comes on October 20th, playing the Sacramento Kings in Portland, at the Moda Center.