With the playoff pursuit picking up in the NBA, the Portland Trail Blazers find themselves yet again, fighting for their playoff lives.
The Trail Blazers have made the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons, but there lack of playoff success has been a true issue for the franchise. The Blazers have been knocked out in the first-round of the playoffs in three of the last four years.
It’s almost a virtual certainty that Portland will be bounced from the first-round this season, if they’re fortunate enough to survive the play-in tournament. I don’t see them being much of a challenge for the Suns or the Jazz. If that comes to fruition, Portland will have been eliminated in the first-round in four of their last five seasons.
If that becomes a reality, Damian Lillard’s career in Portland should be over.
Is it out of the question to think that by the end of this season, Lillard is going to throw his hands in the air, and ask for a trade? It would certainly be out of character, but I consider all options on the table regarding Lillard. He’s clearly frustrated, and now it’s becoming well-documented in NBA circles.
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports wrote about Portland’s struggles this season, and it was certainly eye-opening. It seemed clear to me that Haynes’ piece was a message from Damian Lillard to the Trail Blazers. Here are some of the quotes that truly stuck out:
Reading some of those quotes makes it seem like they’re directly from Lillard, and have a direct correlation on how he feels. When asked about Haynes’ story, Lillard did not emphatically deny his linkage to the story, but in a two minute response he mentioned a plethora of things, but ultimately he reiterated:
“It is what it is.”
Lillard has dealt with inquires this season, and has acknowledged multiple times that this season has been difficult. I think it’s clear that he feels that Portland has left him out to dry, and haven’t made any real roster upgrades in the last five years.
They’ve added some nice rotation players like Carmelo Anthony, Norman Powell, Robert Convington, and Enes Kanter, but never have looked to acquire a superstar to pair with Damian Lillard, or at the bare minimum, a change of pieces.
CJ McCollum is a nice player, but he can only move the needle so much, and the Blazers have continued to fall short due to his limitations.
Look across the NBA landscape, look what the modern NBA general manager is trying to do. They’re looking to pair superstars. For example, LeBron James and Antony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal, the list goes on and on.
The counter-argument to that point would be, that Portland is not a desirable location. But, if we look at the facts, it has been reported by The Athletic that James Harden had the Trail Blazers on his list of preferred teams to be traded to.
Why didn’t Portland pull the trigger on Nikola Vucevic? There were ways to upgrade this team over the years, or ways to shake up the roster, and they have punted on all of them.
Despite the fact that Lillard is under contract until the 2025 season, he’s already 30 years old, his prime years are dwindling.
I really don’t think it’s that crazy to suggest that Lillard is done in Portland. Look, at the evidence, it’s on every corner.
The Haynes story, the visible frustration on the court and at the podium, and the continuous mediocre results. If Lillard asked for a trade, the Trail Blazers would surly receive a great deal of assets for him, but they will never find someone like Damian Lillard.
He’s the best player in their franchise history, and has really chosen the high road for the better part of a decade.
But, choosing the high road might not be in the cards this time around…