$35 million worth JR Smith finds it “unbelievable” that $60M/year star Damian Lillard wants to “rot” in Portland

Akash Murty | 26/07/2022
$35 million worth JR Smith finds it “unbelievable” that $60M/year star Damian Lillard wants to “rot” in Portland

Damian Lillard is willing to spend his entire career in Portland for his desire to win a championship for a team that drafted him over forming a super team elsewhere.

Already having a net worth of over $100 million, Lillard recently signed a two-year extension with Portland Trail Blazers that will keep him in the franchise at least until 2027.

One of the most clutch shooters of basketball will make about $59 million in 2025-26, then about $63 million the next year. He is already on a contract that will be making him about $137 million over the coming three seasons before the newly signed extension kicks in.

Whether the Blazers will be able to do any better in the playoffs will be a top subject of discussion as soon as the 2022-23 season begins.

Although they did quite well in the off-season by signing Detroit’s Jerami Grant and playoffs-proven guard Gary Payton II to their team, a former NBA champ is still worried about how it would turn out this time for Dame.

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JR Smith finds it unbelievable that Damian Lillard wants to rot in Portland

JR Smith is certainly more troubled by how one of the NBA’s Top-75 players of all time is willing to “rot” in Portland, than the man himself.

We know how unpredictable NBA can be. Last year’s favourite to make it to the Finals – Brooklyn Nets, failed to make it past the first round of the East, whereas the Los Angeles Lakers failed to even make the Play-ins.

The West although seemed easier than the East had its champion GSW win it all. It will be certainly the tougher conference to play in with the Nuggets, Pelicans, Timberwolves, and Clippers, all coming hard at the top teams like the Warriors, Suns, Grizzlies, and Mavericks.

Even Oklahoma City Thunder and Sacramento Kings can create some noise this time around and so it’ll be one of the toughest seasons for Dame Dolla to lead Blazers to the playoffs which he has failed to do just once (2022) barring his first season.

Also read: “If I’m the Brooklyn Nets, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving stay”: Kenny Smith addresses Nets superstar duo as generational talents

And with a new-look team, it might be a truly difficult job even after having scorers like Grant, Anfernee Simmons, and Dame himself backed up by tough defenders like Josh Hart and Payton II. Having said that, anyone would choose to rot anywhere in the States for $60 million a year.

 

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
Damian Lillard JR Smith Portland Trail Blazers

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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