Dame’s Time
Halloween night 2012, Damian Lillard stepped on the NBA scene for the first time. Making his debut with the Portland Trail Blazers, Dame delivered a 23 point and 11 assist performance in front of a sold-out Rose Garden. When the final buzzer had sounded, the number 6 pick in the 2012 draft had helped lead his team to victory over the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers, who had received a combine 63 points from Kobe Bryant & Dwight Howard.
Lillard would go on to play all 82 games of his rookie campaign, averaging 19 points and 6.5 assists, in what was an uneven season for Portland. The team finished 33-49 with the fanbase enduring a 13 game losing streak to end the season. Despite the finish to the year fans in the Pacific Northwest went into the summer with the belief that they had struck gold in the draft and found a future star to pair with franchise cornerstone LaMarcus Aldridge…and they were RIGHT!
The following year, in only his 2nd season, Dame was named an NBA All-Star. Over the course of the next two seasons the Trail Blazers won a combined 105 regular season games and advanced to the playoffs each season. The core of a championship team appeared to be in place with the duo of Lillard and Aldridge complimented by Wes Matthews and the promise of a sharp shooting guard taken with the 10th pick in the 2013 draft, CJ McCollum.
Despite the potential this roster possessed, the regular season success failed to translate to the post season where the team won just one playoff series over the course of those two seasons, a 2014 six game triumph over the James Harden & Dwight Howard led Houston Rockets. That series is remembered most for Lillard’s series clinching three at the buzzer of Game 6. The 2014 team would fall to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals while the 2015 team was derailed by a late season injury to Matthews and eliminated in the first round by the Memphis Grizzlies, both five game defeats.
Dreams of an NBA title were quickly met with a harsh reality in July of 2015 when Aldridge decided to look outside of the organization for a path towards post season success and Portland declined to offer Matthews a contract. In free agency, Aldridge signed with San Antonio and Matthews inked a lucrative deal with the Dallas Mavericks despite being in the midst of recovery from a torn Achilles tendon. At 25 years old, entering his 4th season, the Portland Trail Blazers were clearly Dame’s team. The weight of an entire region’s championship aspirations was placed squarely on his shoulders and for the next 8 seasons, he did more than his part to realize those dreams.
In his first season as the face of the franchise, Lillard established new career highs in both points (25.1) and assists (6.8). To the surprise of many, aided by the emergence of McCollum, he led the Trail Blazers to a respectable 44-38 record. Portland entered the 2016 playoffs as the 5th seed in the Western Conference and matched up against the heavily favored “Lob City” Clippers. Los Angeles was led by the trio of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan.
The series started off as many expected, with the Clippers winning the first two games at home by 20 and 21 points, respectively. When series shifted to Oregon for Game 3, the world got its first real glimpse into Portland’s future as we watched CJ’s 27 points, be topped only by Dame’s game high 32, in a 96-88 Portland victory. The series turned in Game 4 when LA lost both Paul and Griffin to injuries that would end their seasons, a blow that was too much for the veteran Clippers team to overcome as they fell to the Trail Blazers in six games.
Portland would go on to lose to the defending champion, and record setting, 73 win Golden State Warriors in five games however, the Western Conference Semifinals appearance gave the Trail Blazers reason to believe in their future. Lillard averaged 31.8 points and 7.6 assists in the five game contest and McCollum proved ready for the stage averaging 21.4 points. Dame’s performance was highlighted by a 40 point and 10 assist Game 3 Portland victory in which he connected on 8 of 13 shots from beyond the arc! One year removed from the foundation shaking departures of Aldridge and Matthews, there was once again reason for optimism heading into the offseason.
The 2016 offseason came and went without major changes but, hope remained that the team could build off their surprise success of the previous year. Instead, Portland looked more like the team many expected to see in the aftermath of the 2015 offseason. As mid-February rolled around, the team had lost 4 of 5 and found itself 9 games below .500 at 23-32. Looking for a spark, Portland swapped centers with Denver in a deal that resulted in Mason Plumlee and a 2018 2nd round pick going to the Nuggets and Jusuf Nurkić landing with the Trail Blazers along with a 2017 1st round pick.
Nurkić played well down the stretch run appearing in 20 of 27 games while averaging 15.2 points, 10.4 boards, and 1.9 blocks and Portland rallied to finish the regular season at 41-41. The team’s late season push was enough to grab hold of the 8th seed in the Western Conference. Unfortunately for the City of Roses, their reward for making the playoffs was a rematch with the Golden State Warriors who had added Kevin Durant. The Warriors made quick work of the Trail Blazers, authoring a four game sweep to start their post season march towards a 3rd straight Western Conference Title and their 2nd NBA Title in the past three years.
Portland’s big swing of the 2017 offseason took place on draft night when they sent the 15th and 20th picks to Sacramento in exchange for the 10th pick. With the tenth pick, the team selected Gonzaga big man Zach Collins, passing on the opportunity to draft Kentucky big man Bam Adebayo who went 14th to Miami. At the time, Collins was believed by most evaluators to have the highest potential to develop into a complete NBA center however, the Trail Blazers could have greatly benefited from adding Bam’s defensive versatility.
When the regular season came around, the team looked to replicate the late season success they had in the year prior. Nurkić picked up where he left off averaging 14.3 points and 9.0 rebounds, and the tandem of Lillard & McCollum continued to deliver with remarkable consistency. The team once again seemed to be building towards contention, finishing the regular season at 49-33. Their regular season performance earned them the Western Conference’s #3 seed, home court advantage, and a matchup with the 48 win New Orleans Pelicans. Virtually everyone expected a long series but, Lillard slipped into a shooting slump at the wrong time and the Trail Blazers had no answers for Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday who led the Pelicans to a four game sweep.
After the disappoint of the New Orleans series, Portland’s front office continued to make tweaks around the edges of the Trail Blazers roster. In July of 2018, the team signed shooting guard Seth Curry to a 1-year deal after the three point specialist had missed the entirety of the 2017-2018 season with a stress fracture in his left leg that ultimately required surgery. The team continued to add throughout the season signing center Enes Kanter in February, after he was waived by the New York Knicks, and making a deadline deal with Cleveland to land forward Rodney Hood. The acquisitions provided depth at positions of need for a Portland team that was looking to climb the Western Conference standings.
The Trail Blazers entered the All-Star break at 34-23, after a win over Golden State, and closed the regular season on a post break 19-6 run to finish at 53-29 and qualify for the playoffs as the conference’s #3 seed. Now 7 years into his NBA career, Lillard had put together his best season to date. He had established career highs in assists (6.9), assist to turnover ratio (2.56), and effective field goal percentage (52.2%) while averaging 25.8 points. Dame also played 80 games during the regular season, the most he had appeared in since he competed in all 82 of Portland’s contests in each of his first three seasons.
Portland began the 2019 playoffs, once again, with a difficult opponent in their #3/#6 matchup. In order to win their first playoff series in three years, Lillard would need to lead his team past the 49 win Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC featured a dynamic duo in Russell Westbrook & Paul George and an intimidating paint presence in Steven Adams. The Thunder had won all four meetings with Portland in the regular season and, if the circumstances weren’t challenging enough already, Portland had lost Nurkić to a late season injury forcing Kanter into a starting role. Kanter turned out to be up for the task and the two teams played a competitive and entertaining series in which the first and the final games of the series would end up being the most tightly contested down the stretch.
In Game 1 Paul George struggled to find his shooting stroke going 8/24 but, hit a three pointer with under three minutes to play to pull the Thunder within one at 93-92. Lillard immediately responded, and in what would foreshadow things to come, hit a 30 foot trey on the next possession to stretch the Portland lead back to four, ending the Thunder’s rally.
The teams split the next two games with the home teams holding serve. The Trail Blazers had rode a 33 point night from McCollum to a 20 point victory in Game 2 which was countered three nights later with a 33 point performance by Westbrook in a 12 point Thunder win in Game 3. With the Blazers holding a 2-1 edge in the series, Portland sought to take Game 4 and return home with a chance close things out. Dame’s team was able to do just that as Lillard scored 15 points in the 3rd quarter to extend a 4 point halftime lead to 11, which proved to be too much for the Thunder to overcome despite a 32 point effort from George.
As the series shifted back to Oregon, fans packed the Moda Center ready for a celebration. Portland’s first playoff series win in three years was within reach but, the cliché that close out games are always the toughest, held true. Lillard came out firing with a 34 point first half but, George knocked down eight of his ten first half shots and racked up 20 points of his own. Oklahoma City hung in the fight trailing only by one at the half, 61-60.
Portland continued to look to pull away in the 2nd half and for a moment, appeared to have. Dame drained a step back three to put the Trail Blazers up 84-75 with 3:29 to play in the 3rd quarter. The home crowd to had to feel as though victory was within the Blazers grasp however, the Thunder simply would not fold. Oklahoma City quickly turned a late 3rd quarter nine point deficit into a FIFTEEN point 4th quarter lead!
With 7:12 remaining in the game and Thunder up 107-92, it looked like a certainty that the series would head back to the Mid-West for a Game 6 and that the capacity crowd would head home disappointed. In the face of those long odds, Portland refused to back down and the emotional roller coaster ride continued as the home team did not let the 24 point swing dishearten them. Over the next 6:15, the Blazers went on a 21-6 run, with 10 points from forward Maurice Harkless, to tie the game at 113 with 57 seconds remaining…What happen next remains one of the most remarkable finishes in NBA history!
Paul George broke the tie with a 15 foot jump shot over CJ McCollum with 39 seconds left only to watch Lillard make a driving layup 7 seconds later following a Terry Stotts timeout. Lillard had been defended by Dennis Schröder and after beating him off the dribble somehow managed to split Paul George and Jerami Grant, who had collapsed to meet him at the rim. The game was tied at 115 and the decision by Lillard’s long-time coach to go quick, put Portland in position to have one last possession to either tie or win the game.
On the ensuing Thunder possession, Westbrook went to the rim but was defended well by Al-Farouq Aminu. The forward, who had been a solid contributor in his 4 years with Portland, contested Westbrook’s shot attempt, forcing a miss, and gathered the rebound. With 17 seconds remaining, Aminu handed the ball off to Dame who dribbled about five feet past half court and assessed his options. Stotts had one time out remaining but, rather than calling it to draw up a play he left the game in his star’s hands.
Instead of running any sort of action, Portland spaced the floor and cleared out for Lillard to go one on one with George who had stepped out to establish his defensive position about 30 feet from the basket. As the clock wound down under four seconds, Lillard had still only drifted a few feet closer to the basket from half court. With everyone in the building expecting Dame to put the ball on the floor and drive, he took one step and pulled up from 37 feet, well out of the reach of George’s contest. The high arcing shot left Lillard’s hand with approximately 1.6 seconds left but, it felt as though time stopped as the shot reached its apex and transitioned into its descent toward the rim. As the red light around the backboard illuminated and the buzzer sounded, Dame’s hail marry shot passed through the cylinder and the arena erupted!
In the immediate aftermath, as Lillard’s teammates ran to mob him in celebration, Dame still looking locked in as ever, waived goodbye to the Oklahoma City Thunder. That last shot by Dame gave him 50 for the night, a new franchise playoff record, and added him to a list accompanied only by Michael Jordan as players with multiple series ending buzzer beaters. Rip City was rolling into the Western Conference Semis!
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The West’s second round brought a very different challenge in the #2 seeded Denver Nuggets. Denver was coming off a seven game first round victory over LaMarcus Aldridge’s San Antonio Spurs after completing a 54-28 regular season. The Nuggets had missed the playoffs the previous year but, the emergence of a couple of young players had vaulted them into the upper echelon of the Western Conference. At 24 years old, center Nikola Jokić had averaged 20.1 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.3 assists during the regular season. His running mate, 22 year-old guard Jamal Murray, had establish career highs of his own at 18.2 points and 4.8 assists.
For the first time, a Lillard lead Trail Blazers team entered a playoff series as the more experienced team. They had gone from the hunter to the hunted. One similarity to Portland’s first round opponent was that the Nuggets, like the Thunder, held the edge in the regular season head to head matchup. Denver had taken three of four from Portland and those games proved to be significant. One game separated the two teams in the regular season standings which meant that the series would open up at altitude in the Mile High City.
As the series tipped off, Damian Lillard carried over his hot shooting from the first round. In Game 1 he hit 12 of 21 shots for 39 points but, Jokić had 37 points of his own on 11 of 18 shooting and the Nuggets pulled out a 121-113 win. Game 2 could not have possibly looked more different. Both team struggled mightily on offense with Portland shooting 42.4% and Denver shooting an abysmal 34.7%. A 23-7 edge in offensive rebounds kept the home team in the fight but, a game high 20 points from CJ McCollum was enough for the Trail Blazers to pull out a 97-90 win and send the series back to the Left Coast even at a game apiece.
Game 3 must have been an excruciating viewing experience for fans of each of these teams. With 35 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Lillard had the ball with the score tied 100-100. Dame drove past Murray and made a floater over the contest of Paul Millsap to give Portland a 102-100 lead with 31 seconds remaining. At the other end, after a Michael Malone time out, Will Barton inbounded the ball to Jokić and immediately cut to the rim. Jokić delivered a perfect pass with Lillard trailing and Barton was able to make an up and under layup to tie the game at 102 with 28 seconds left.
On the following Blazers possession, Dame drove to the paint and drew three defenders. With about 9 seconds remaining he kicked the ball out to a wide open Aminu who fired up a three pointer with three seconds left on the shot clock and just under eight seconds remaining in the 4th. The shot ricocheted off the back rim and was rebound by Murray with 4.4 on the clock. Unable to successfully push the ball up court, the Nuggets called a time-out with 1.8 seconds remaining. No longer allowed to advance the ball, Denver attempted a long inbound pass that was intercepted by Harkless who attempted a 60 foot heave that fell short. The game was headed to overtime!
The scoring in the extra session was opened by a Murray driving floater, 104-102 Denver. McCollum countered with an 18 foot jumper just under a minute later, tied again. 43 seconds later, another McCollum jump shot fell, this one from behind the arc, 107-104 Portland. 49 seconds later Murray countered with a three of his own, tied again. A Millsap layup with under a minute to play put Denver back on top at 109-107.
The score would remain that way until Lillard stole the ball from Torrey Craig with 17 seconds left and began racing up the floor. With 14 seconds left Dame tried to sidestep around Millsap and attempted a layup but, failed to convert. The shot attempt didn’t contact the rim and as it came down was deflect by both Lillard and Millsap and the ball careened toward the Nuggets bench. Aminu, who had run the floor with Lillard, reacted quickly and secured the rebound then passed the ball to a trailing McCollum who drove and drained a floater for his third basket of the period to tie the game once again. After a Denver time out, Jokić missed a three at the buzzer, the game was headed to DOUBLE OT!!
Lillard opened the scoring of the next session with a 20 foot jumper and, after the teams traded baskets, hit a deep three to put the Blazers up five as the clock ticked toward the half way mark of the period. Denver responded with Jokić assisting on a Barton three and a Millsap two from close range, tied again! McCollum added his 2nd bucket of the 2nd extra session with 1:27 remaining but, Gary Harris responded with a driving spin move that resulted in a layup to tie the game yet again with 1:03 remaining…
The two teams remained scoreless over the next minute. Lillard attempted to break the scoring drought with a tough step back three over Gary Harris but, his shot came up short, landing on the front rim and bouncing out. At this point, fatigue had clearly set in for both teams but, once again the game clock needed to be reset to 5:00, we were headed to TRIPPLE OT!!!
McCollum opened the scoring of the third overtime with a two point jumper that was quickly answered with a Harris three, 121-120 Denver. CJ then responded with a long step back two followed by a three, 125-121 Portland. The Nuggets then went on an 8-0 run over a two minute stretch to go up 129-125 with only 32 seconds to play…timeout Portland.
Following the TO, Harkless inbounded to Lillard who drove by Craig. After inbounding the ball Harkless had drifted towards the corner and drew Millsap with him, creating enough space and keeping Millsap far enough away from the rim that he wasn’t in a position to help on Lillard without fouling. The result? An uncontested layup to put Portland back within two with 27.3 seconds left on the clock.
What came next? More McCollum heroics only this time on the defensive end. As Murray brought the ball across half court, along the sideline opposite the benches, CJ blanketed him and reached in behind Murray’s back with his left hand swiping at the ball and knocking it loose. As Murray tried to maintain his dribble, the ball deflected off his fingertips and out of bounds! Blazers ball!
On the ensuing possession, Denver began with Murray defending Dame but switched Craig onto him with about 12 seconds on the clock. Once again, Lillard drove and beat Craig off the dribble and Harkless had again drawn Millsap to the corner to defend the three point line. Jokić may have been in a position to contest but, wasn’t fast enough to react and was sealed off by Kanter. Dame laid the ball off the glass and in against a late contest by Craig who had recovered quickly. With 8.4 seconds remaining the game was tied again!
On the next possession, Jokić set a great screen that forced Kanter to switch onto Murray. Despite having the matchup they were looking for, the Nuggets were unable to capitalize as Kanter managed to stay in front of Murry, cutting off his driving lane, and forcing him backward. With time winding down, and Murray having retreated towards half court, he had to resort to taking a deep three from the “d” in the Moda Center logo. The shot banged high off the backboard and then caught the front rim bouncing harmlessly out. Yet again, the clock was reset to 5:00, we were heading to QUADRUPLE OVERTIME!!!!
At this point, the crowd is feeling fatigued, what the players are going through is indescribable. The first four minutes of the 4th overtime period were played to a 4-4 tie, evening the game at 133. What was most significant is that it was Rodney Hood who tied the game for Portland with 1:07 on the clock. Hood had been on the bench for 17 minutes and 30 seconds of the 18:01 of extra time that had been played when he checked in with 1:59 on the clock.
With 1:00 remaining, McCollum committed a shooting foul and Barton made one of two free throws re-establishing a slim Denver lead, 134-133. Needing to respond, Hood came through for Portland again, making another two point jumper with 44.9 seconds left, 135-134 Portland.
At the other end, directly in front of the Trail Blazer bench, Millsap had a one on one opportunity in the low post against Aminu. In the span of two left-handed dribbles, Millsap gained position leaning his right shoulder into Aminu’s chest and curled toward the basket taking a five foot shot with his left hand. The ball landed softly on the front rim bouncing towards the cup, then it caught the back rim and bounced again, continuing its forward momentum to reach the back board, another bounce off the glass changed the ball’s direction back towards the cylinder and after glancing the back rim again, the ball fell through the net, 136-135 Denver with 27.6 on the clock…timeout Portland.
Following the timeout, McCollum thought he had an opportunity to drive on Jokić but, didn’t see the trailing Malik Beasley. As CJ pulled up for a mid-range jumper, the Nuggets defensive quickly collapse on him, and his contested shot missed off the back rim. Despite the contest, McCollum tracked the ball the entire way and when the rebound came back out in his direction, he somehow managed to jump up and secure the ball over a crashing Torrey Craig. Almost in a single motion, he kicked the ball out to Hood before his feet touched back on the floor. Hood calmly caught the pass and pumped fake a desperate close out attempt by Barton. After watching Barton leave his feet and sail by, Hood took one dribble and then raised up from beyond the arc, nothing but nylon! Hood was now three for three in the period and Portland had a 138-136 lead with 17.8 remaining on the clock.
After a Denver timeout, Jokić attempted to post up Harkless who did well to hold his ground and prevent an easy look at the rim. Unable to move Harkless, Jokić made a spin move and took a wild shot with 5.6 seconds remaining. The shot missed badly but, Harkless was called for a shooting foul. Jokić missed the first free throw ultimately sealing Denver’s fate.
After Jokić made the second free throw, Denver fouled Seth Curry who made both of his free throws with 2.8 remaining to put Portland up 140-137. Out of time outs, the Nuggets attempted one last desperation inbound pass that traveled past half court but, it was intercepted by McCollum and the clock hit zero, this time it would not need to be reset to 5:00, Portland had secured a 2-1 series lead.
To call Game 3 the CJ McCollum game would not being doing justice to all the wild endeavors that took place over 68 minutes of NBA playoff basketball however, it was definitely one for the resume and for anyone who doubted CJ as a worthy partner in crime for Dame. McCollum scored 18 of his game high 41 points after regulation had ended! Maybe more importantly, the team trusted him as he attempted a staggering THIRTY NINE shots! That was seven more than Jamal Murray and 15 more than Lillard.
The game was the first, and remains the only, NBA playoff game in the shot clock era to extend to a fourth overtime period and only the second all time. The other being a series clinching Game 2 victory for the Boston Celtics over the Syracuse Nationals in the 1953 Eastern Division Semifinals.
Portland was now 4-0 at home in the playoffs and had won 12 straight at home dating back to the regular season. Entering Game 4 and looking to extend that winning steak to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series, many people from analysts to fans, liked Portland’s chances. The natural tendency in the aftermath of a game like Game 3 is to assume that the heartbreak of being on the losing end is almost too much to bounce back from. If that is truly the case, then someone forgot to inform the Nuggets.
Game 4 was tight throughout with Portland jumping out to a six point half time lead but, Denver came out strong in the second half with a 27-14 3rd quarter that would tip the scales in their favor. Jokić delivered an 8/15 shooting performance on his way to a 21 point, 12 rebound, and 11 assist night that helped lead Denver to a 116-112 win which leveled the series at 2-2.
With the series shifting back to Denver, the Nuggets came out firing on all cylinders in Game 5 while the Trail Blazers struggled shooting from everywhere; 36.7% from the field, 27.0% from three, 53.3% from the free throw line. A six point first quarter deficit quickly ballooned to 18 at the end of the 2nd quarter and the Blazers wouldn’t get any closer after halftime falling 124-98. Now down 3-2, Lillard’s team now found themselves trailing in the series for the first time since the Game 1 loss.
If the Trail Blazer’s were going to return to Denver for a seventh game, they were first going to need a big response back at home, and they got it from their exceptional backcourt pairing. Dame and CJ combined for 62 points on 23 of 47 shooting, which included Lillard’s 6 for 13 performance from three. The result was a 119-108 Trail Blazers victory and a series knotted at 3-3.
Although nothing could compare to what transpired in Game 3, you never know what to expect heading into a Game 7. Coming off a hot shooting performance in Game 6, Lillard surprisingly struggled to find his stroke and the Nuggets jumped out to a 29-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. Dame’s shooting struggles would continue throughout most of the game as he ended up just 3/17 but, found other ways to contribute. The Blazers star made five of six free throws on a 13 point night, relied heavily on his play making ability racking up eight assists, and secured ten defensive boards.
Fortunately for Portland, McCollum’s hot shooting from three nights prior only got hotter as Portland knocked the Nuggets lead down to one, entering the 4th quarter. Dame saved his best for last making two of his three 4th quarter three point attempts while CJ would put the finishing touches on the most important performance of his career.
McCollum shot 17 for 29 on his way to 37 points, including making Portland’s last three field goals of the game. The last of those buckets, a 16 foot pull up over Craig, came with 12.4 seconds remaining and extended the Blazers lead 98-95, a lead they would not relinquish! After adding a couple late Evan Turner free throws the Trail Blazers would leave Denver with a 100-96 win, 4-3 series victory, and a berth in the Western Conference Finals! Game 7 WAS the CJ McCollum game!
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The run up to the 2019 Western Conference Finals was the peak of Lillard’s Trail Blazers run. The third round of the playoffs saw Portland clash with a familiar foe in the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were without Durant due to an injury suffered in the previous round vs Houston but, the two time defending NBA champions still had their now veteran trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
Curry showed up and showed out in the series averaging 36.5 points on 46.9% shooting along with 8.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists, leading the Warriors to a four game sweep and their 5th straight Western Conference Title. Games 2 and 4 came down to the wire, with Game 4 going to overtime, but Golden State was simply too much for Portland to handle. Once again, the Blazers were headed into the summer looking for answers.
Over the next two seasons Portland looked to add veteran players who could compliment their backcourt duo. Most notable was the signing of Carmelo Anthony in the summer of 2019. Melo would spend two years in Portland and provided a consistent wing scoring option that the Trail Blazers had lacked throughout Lillard’s career. Despite the added fire power on offense, the team continued to lack necessary defensive versatility and failed to replicate the success of the 2019 run in the 2020 and 2021 playoffs.
The 2020 season was halted in March due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and when play resumed in the Orlando Bubble in late July, Portland qualified for the playoffs as the Western Conference’s #8 seed only to fall in five games to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers, led by Lebron James and Anthony Davis. The 2021 team qualified for the playoffs as a #6 seed after a 42-30 season that was abbreviated due to the on-going pandemic. They would match up with the Nikola Jokić led Denver Nuggets for the second time in three seasons. Denver had lost Jamal Murray to a torn ACL but, now featured Aaron Gordon and an emerging young talent in Michael Porter Jr. A hard-fought series ultimately went to the Nuggets in six games and the Trail Blazers front office decided it was time for a new direction, parting ways with head coach Terry Stotts, in what was announced as a mutual agreement.
In hindsight, the departure of Lillard’s head coach for all nine of his seasons in Portland was really the beginning of the end. It signaled that the Trail Blazers front office was looking to shake the foundation of the team up to explore alternative avenues and timelines towards contention. Chauncey Billups was hired as head coach prior the 2021-2022 season, a season in which Lillard would be limited to just 29 games due to injury.
With the team struggling and the trade deadline approaching, Portland decided to trade CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans. The deal was mostly to clear salary from the books heading into the summer and returned one potentially significant asset in a protected 2022 New Orleans first round pick. The pick would convey to Portland if it landed anywhere from picks 5 through 14 and New Orleans was 10th in the Western Conference standings at the time of the deal. If the Pelicans failed to qualify for the playoffs, it was very likely the pick would convey to Portland.
Unfortunately for the Trail Blazers, McCollum helped the Pelicans climb to 9th in the standings and qualify for the play in tournament. He then scored 32 points against San Antonio and 19 against the Los Angeles Clippers to help New Orleans advance to the playoffs, ensuring that the Pelicans pick would not convey to Portland. Instead, Portland would receive a 2025 first round pick from Milwaukee. Meanwhile, with Dame sidelined and CJ no longer a part of the team, the losses piled up. The team went just 2-21 after the All-Star break and finished with a 27-55 record in their first year with Billups behind the bench.
Regarding the trade of his long-time co-star, Lillard had the following to say in the wake of CJ’s departure:
“We talked about it over the years, like, this being a possibility. We both knew that this point would be coming. But that don't make it no easier to deal with. I think that's where I am now. Me and him literally talked about it happening, the possibility of it and it was likely and stuff like that, and I still woke up this morning like, sad. It's actually done.”
“When I'm seeing 'CJ To The Pelicans' and stuff like that, it's like damn, ain't no coming back from this, this is it. It ain't gonna be no every day, pull up to the house, dinner on the road, all that stuff. It's done, he's on a new team. As much as I understood it and he understood it and we kind of have always communicated in a transparent way, it don't make it any easier to deal with or to look at. Like man, is it really over? Is the run really over?”
“I think we'll be remembered as trouble. We never won a championship together, we never played in the Finals together, but we have always been a winning team. Us together, we've always been a winning team, we've always been a playoff team, so we never had empty success in games. We've always won games ... we just didn't win at the highest level.”
“No matter if it was the best team in the league, worst team in the league, they knew that they had trouble. And in the playoffs -- people can say what they want -- we've had our down moments in the playoffs and we've had high moments in the playoffs, I would say about split.”
“Regardless of that, we were always the team that people would prefer not to play in the playoffs, regardless of any of that, because they knew they had trouble. That's how I think we'll be remember is like man, when CJ and Dame was together for that eight, nine years, trouble. I think that's how we'll be remembered.”
The run really was over. The duo that Dame dubbed Trouble had led the Trail Blazers to three playoff series victories after Aldridge left the organization. Over the course of the previous six seasons (’15-’16 through ’20-’21), they had guided Portland to a 264-210 (.556) regular season record. Under their watch, Portland was always in the mix and seemingly one piece away from having a team with a real shot at an NBA title. Unfortunately, Portland’s front office was never able to deliver that final piece to the puzzle.
After the 2022 season speculation that Lillard would ask for a trade to a more competitive situation was rampant but, Dame remained committed to trying to find a way to bring a title to Portland. In the 2022 offseason, the Trail Blazers took one last swing at trying to retool the roster around Lillard. They traded the 2025 Milwaukee first round pick they had acquired in the McCollum deal to Detroit as the centerpiece of a package to acquire forward Jerami Grant.
As the 2022-2023 season began the Blazers 2018 first round pick, Anfernee Simons, stepped into a full-time starting role alongside Lillard. The team hovered around .500 for much of the season and was 28-30 when it reached the All-Star break. At the trade deadline, the organization had essentially waived the white flag on the season, shipping Josh Hart, who had been acquired in the McCollum deal, to New York in exchange for the Knicks 2023 first round pick.
The Blazers struggled down the stretch despite Dame setting new career highs in points (32.2) and effective field goal percentage (56.4%). After a late March win in Salt Lake City brought the team’s record to just 32-40, the Blazers shut Dame down for the last 10 games of the season. The decision created more opportunity for rookie Shaedon Sharpe who the team had drafted with the 7th pick of the 2022 draft but, the team would win just one game the rest of the season to finish at 33-49, the same record as Lillard’s rookie year…
Portland entered the 2023 draft lottery slotted 5th and the ping pong balls bounced their way awarding the organization the #3 pick in the 2023 draft. The speculation over Dame’s future had grown much loader than the previous offseason and it appeared the organization was headed towards a fork in the road. Either trade the pick in a deal that would land another star player to pair with Damian Lillard or commit to a rebuild and trade Lillard for assets that could help accelerate that process and provide Dame with an opportunity to contend for a championship.
As draft night approached without any signs of a trade, Dame’s exit from Portland seemed inevitable. On the night of June 22, 2023, with the 3rd pick in the NBA draft, the Portland Trail Blazers selected point guard Scoot Henderson of the NBA G League Ignite. The Trail Blazers now had a crowded backcourt that included three young guards in Henderson, Sharpe, and Simons. Nine days later, on July 1, 2023, reports surfaced that Lillard has requested a trade and Blazers General Manager, Joe Cronin, released a statement confirming that Dame would prefer to play elsewhere.
Dame’s time with the Portland Trail Blazers is rife with what ifs...What if Matthews hadn’t torn his Achilles tendon in March of 2015? What if Aldridge hadn’t left in July of 2015? What if the team hadn’t made the Nurkić trade and allowed a down season to playout in February of 2017? Would they have been in position to draft Lauri Markkanen or even Jayson Tatum? What if the Trail Blazers had just drafted Bam Adebayo instead of Zach Collins in 2017? What if Portland had packaged their 2017 draft picks and future picks with Meyers Leonard? Could they have acquired Jimmy Butler who was traded from Chicago to Minnesota that summer? What if they had waited until the summer of 2022 to shop McCollum instead of dealing him during the season? Could they have found a better deal? What if there was an opportunity to land another All-Star by trading the #3 pick in the 2023 draft?...
The reality is that constructing an NBA championship roster is incredibly difficult. Organizations often face roster decisions that do not have definitive right answers. Even when they do end up on the right side of those decisions, like selecting a 6’2” guard out of Weber State with the 6th overall pick in the NBA Draft, a team’s results are always impacted by elements outside of an organization’s control.
What is within the Trail Blazer’s control, is what happens next with Damian Lillard, who has four years remaining on his contract. Dame has done everything that could have been asked of him to try to deliver a title to Portland and unfortunately has never had enough help around him to do so. With the organization clearly headed towards a rebuild, they owe it to Lillard to send him to a team in position to contend for an NBA title.
Perhaps the best comparison for Lillard’s circumstances is the crossroads Kevin Garnett found himself at in the summer of 2007. Garnett had dedicated the past 12 years trying to bring a championship to Minneapolis. Like Lillard, he had only managed to reach the Western Conference Finals once, a six game defeat at the hands of the Lakers. He was also two years into a new coaching staff on a team whose record was headed in the wrong direction.
KG and the Minnesota front office worked together to find him an opportunity to compete for a title and he landed with the Boston Celtics that summer. Garnett would go on to win two Eastern Conference Titles and one NBA Championship (2008). Garnett was 31 at the time of his trade to Boston and Lillard will turn 33 prior to the start of the 2023-2024 NBA season. In his Hall of Fame acceptance speech, The Big Ticket stated that his only regret was that he hadn’t come to Boston earlier in his career.
For some fans of the NBA, what can be easily lost in all the money and the fame that comes with superstar status, is how much players truly love the game of basketball and how hard they have worked for the opportunity to compete at the highest level. The NBA is by far the most competitive basketball league in the world but, there’s a big difference between the regular season, the first couple rounds of the playoffs, the conference finals, and ultimately the NBA Finals. As Meek Mill once said, there’s levels to this shit!
Dame came close to in 2019 but, the sand in the hourglass of his career is quickly running out. Lillard has dedicated much of his life to the game of basketball and the Trail Blazers need to send him to a contender now…
It's Dame’s time!
