Damian Lillard and his camp make it clear that he wants to contend for a championship real soon after yet another postseason flameout.
The talent level in the NBA is at an all-time high at the moment. It’s incredible that superstars such as James Harden, Chris Paul, and Damian Lillard haven’t gotten a whiff of the NBA Finals even once throughout their career (Harden did back in 2012 against the Heat but OKC was never winning that series against LeBron James’s Heat).
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Damian Lillard has poured his heart and soul into making the Portland TrailBlazers a competitive team in the Western Conference for nearly a decade. They currently hold the longest postseason streak in the NBA and while that’s an incredible accomplishment, the fact that those 9 years have resulted in merely a single WCF appearance, is a problem.
The 2020 offseason saw Neil Olshey put together a bevy of moves to acquire players that seemed to fit quite well alongside two offensively gifted guards in Dame and CJ. Guys like Enes Kanter and Robert Covington proved to be great additions to the team but weren’t enough to get them past a banged-up Denver Nuggets squad in the first round.
Damian Lillard reportedly wants to win as urgently as possible.
After yet another season of averaging nearly 30 points while carrying a subpar team to the Playoffs as a 6th seed in the loaded West, it seems as though Damian Lillard’s patience is running thin. Reports from the Athletics’ Jason Quick claim that the All-NBA 2nd teamer has grown tired of repeated postseason disappointment.
“There is a palpable sense of urgency coming from Lillard’s camp. Lillard wants to win big, and he wants to do it now.” 👀
– @jwquick
(Via @TheAthleticNBA ) pic.twitter.com/MbIbYcgqY7— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) June 25, 2021
Understandably so, as it’s clear that when you drop 55 points in a Playoff game and lose that very same game; a roster change needs to be made. The word around the NBA has been a swap between CJ McCollum and Ben Simmons could take place as their salaries match up.
This is most probably not likely but hints towards the Blazer front office looking to switch things up and not waste Damian Lillard’s prime years. As the 30-year-old isn’t growing any younger, it’s crucial that they utilize these next few years as well as they can.
