Damian Lillard continues to be his usual beastly self for the Portland Trail Blazers, especially after he scored 61 points (with 11-of-20 FROM THREE!!!) in an overtime win over the Golden State Warriors Monday night.
He made NBA history as the sixth player ever to have multiple 60-point games in his career, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Michael Jordan and Elgin Baylor … WOW.
But it’s also true that Lillard is on a mess of a Blazers team that probably isn’t getting 60 points out of him every night … and they might need that the rest of the way.
The Blazers are two games out of the eighth spot in the West, behind the Spurs and Grizzlies, but save for a recent pair of wins this month over the Raptors and Rockets, they’re losing to contenders (the Mavericks, Thunder and Bucks) or bad teams (the Knicks and Timberwolves). They nearly lost to the woeful Dubs without a banged-up C.J. McCollum. And they’ve got a stretch coming up against a ton of playoff teams or also-rans like those very same Spurs and a Pelicans team that’s getting Zion Williamson back.
DAMIAN LILLARD. COLD BLOODED. TIE GAME. HE’S GOT 54. pic.twitter.com/V2ZFMItkXr
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) January 21, 2020
They own the biggest payroll in the NBA (even though Lillard deserved the supermax on paper, supermax contracts are the worst), which could lead to some trades at the deadline to get under the luxury tax — the deal over the weekend to rid themselves of Kent Bazemore in exchange for Trevor Ariza will help.
Portland has traded Kent Bazemore and Anthony Tolliver and two second- round picks to Sacramento for Trevor Ariza, Wendell Gabriel and Caleb Swanigan, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 18, 2020
But if they’re trying to make the playoffs, the front office has to make a choice. Do they think they can upset one of the elite West teams if they sneak in when Jusuf Nurkic comes back? I don’t think so. By then — the bruising forward could return in February — the Blazers could be in danger of completely missing the playoffs and whiffing on getting back assets for the expiring deal of Hassan Whiteside (over $27 million on his final year). The core of Lillard, Nurkic, McCollum, and Zach Collins — another key player who went down with injury earlier this year — could be good enough to make the playoffs next year.
The Blazers might need to punt on this season for financial reasons. It’s a waste of another year of Lillard’s incredible prime, but maybe it’s necessary to reload for next year when everyone’s healthy.
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