Has "Dame Time" Expired?

Damian Lillard has been the face of the Portland Trail Blazers for years now, ever since he entered the league. Starting at the point guard position for the team since his first game in 2012, Lillard has never averaged below 19 PPG and 5 APG. Playing alongside star forward LaMarcus Aldridge until the 2014-2015 season, Lillard only missed the playoffs one time. That was his rookie season. He is a three time All-Star, two time All-NBA team member, and took home Rookie of the Year.

His play style has been a full offensive arsenal with very poor defensive abilities. There is almost nothing Lillard cannot do on the offensive end, with a fine three point shot, great driving abilities, and solid playmaking. His defensive capabilities are shown by his defensive plus/minus, where throughout his entire six year career he has never been on the plus side of that category.

Recently, Lillard has been receiving major criticism for his many disappearing acts in the Playoffs. This comes after a recent sweep by a New Orleans Pelicans team that was seeded 6, with only one true star in Anthony Davis. I will be discussing Damian Lillard and whether "Dame Time" should continue in Portland, or if his tenure has expired.

Underrated?

As one-dimensional of a player as Lillard is, fans (and he himself) insist on saying he is "underrated" in the league. That title is unnecessary for a guard that has been labeled as an All-Star three times. With that title, we must question what makes a player underrated? Only five point guards can be considered better than Lillard, and four of those guards were also All-Stars this year, with arguably better stats on either the defensive or offensive end. Those players are Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving.

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Lillard has consistently been mentioned as a top ten point guard in the league, tending to be at the heels of the previously mentioned five point guards. Other point guards such as John Wall also have an argument against Lillard to being the better player. What separates (most) of those other guards and Lillard is their efficiency and defensive abilities. Lillard's defensive plus/minus was only slightly better than one of those guards, Stephen Curry. Curry easily outplays Lillard on offense, making Curry the better player. Lillard's efficiency is below nearly all of those mentioned point guards, except for Westbrook and Harden, who both have been or are about to be the MVP.

Lillard had an impressive 2017-2018 season, where he was in discussion for the MVP award. Leading a depleted Trail Blazers team to a 3 seed in the Western Conference and averaging 26.9 PPG and 6.6 APG, Lillard can no longer be considered underrated by any means. One could now consider Lillard overrated for his shortcomings on defense and inability of winning when it counts. However, it's too early to consider someone overrated directly after a season of being called underrated. It takes more than one season to be considered either underrated or overrated, and Lillard has earned not being titled "underrated" anymore, even if he never should have had that label. His career should not be the basis for other players considered underrated. One could look at Goran Dragic, who is nearly never considered to be in the top ten tier for point guards, but is closely behind Chris Paul in scoring and Kyrie Irving in assists. Stats that aren't superstar level, but near comparable to superstar numbers.

Playoff Disappointment

Lillard's playoff career can't be labeled anything more than disappointing. Yes, he hit an incredible game winning shot to send the Houston Rockets packing in the first round of 2014. Those Playoffs would be the last time we saw any sort of "Dame Time" for the Trail Blazers in the postseason.

Stats from https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lillada01.html

Most general managers in the league will agree that a max contract worthy player should be able to win in the Playoffs, to have the efficiency and capability of playing against the top competition. Lillard seemingly cowers under the pressure of the Playoffs, judging by his efficiency drop from regular season to postseason.

One could attribute these efficiency drops to the competition the Trail Blazers are put against. Either they play a top tier defensive team, such as the Golden State Warriors or Memphis Grizzlies, or Lillard is matched against a top tier defensive guard in Chris Paul or Jrue Holiday. However, to be considered a top player and not so "underrated," you should be able to take it to the competition and make them work for a win. Yet every series loss is close to, if not a sweep and Lillard's efficiency levels are atrocious.

What should the Trail Blazers do?

It will always be difficult to part ways with the face of your franchise, especially when you have very little talent after him. McCollum is an excellent piece, but after that the talent level drops tremendously. The team also has multiple poor contracts compared to player productivity, such as Evan Turner at $17 million a year on his contract for 8.2 PPG and 2.2 APG. There is also little to no promising youth on the team besides Zach Collins.

The Trail Blazers' course of action will be tricky with those factors, but there is a way to start a rebuild that could be extremely worth it. First, they must resign center Jusuf Nurkic to a long-term deal. Ever since Nurkic was put into the lineup, the Trail Blazers defensive numbers raised from 108.5 PAPG to 103.

Next, find a trade for Lillard with a focus on youth and picks. This is a tall task, as there aren't many contenders that could use a point guard and have the salary for Lillard's contract. If the Philadelphia 76ers give up their pursuit for LeBron James, I could see a trade like this being thrown around:

Philadelphia 76ers Receive- PG Damian Lillard

Portland Trail Blazers Receive- PG Markelle Fultz, 2018 1st Round 10th Pick (Via Lakers), 2019 1st Round Pick (Via Kings)

Rip City Project

This trade could complete the process for the 76ers by giving them a superstar to add to their star duo, making an extremely potent offensive big three. Imagine a pick and roll with Embiid and Simmons, OR with Lillard and Embiid. You could even have a pick and roll with Lillard and Simmons, as Lillard could either dump it off to Simmons for a drive or to find the perimeter shooter, or Lillard could take it to the hoop or look for the open perimeter shooter. There is an endless amount of opportunity for that offense, which could give the 76ers their next step.

Youth would become the identity for the Trail Blazers, with two picks that will be in the lottery in the next two years. The pick from the Kings has a protection for the Celtics, where if the pick lands at number one the Celtics will receive the pick. That protection comes from the trade that gave the 76ers the pick for Markelle Fultz. However, the Kings being the team with the best odds to land the first pick is unlikely. Look for those picks to be used on high potential players with big boom or bust opportunity, possibly Michael Porter Jr.? Fultz is also an excellent fit for the Trail Blazers, a team that now needs a new face of the franchise. Pairing him with a shooter in McCollum will also make up for his poor jumper, but if he finds the solution for his broken jumpshot and reaches his potential that made him a first overall pick, then expect another highly talented backcourt for the Blazers.

If all else fails, the Blazers will have to hold onto Lillard as there are not many teams with the compatibility of the Trail Blazers' needs or the ability to take in Lillard. Keeping Lillard would definitely hold back the rebuilding process, as they'd have to wait a few years for his contract, along with many other players' contracts on the team.

In the best scenario, the trade mentioned above follows through and the Blazers make smart picks, creating a young trio of Fultz and the two lottery picks they received, along with sharpshooter McCollum. If that trade falls through, then the Blazers may have dug themselves a massive hole that will take years to crawl back out of. One similar to the Kings' situation for the past 10 years.