Portland Trail Blazers: Analyzing a potential Kyrie Irving trade

Blazers are lucky to have Damian Lillard

Damian Lillard loves the Portland Trail Blazers. He’s made it painstakingly clear that he wants to remain with them. He wants to win a championship, but he refuses to leave Rip City to chase a ring.

With so many players switching teams this year, it’s refreshing to see a guy willing to put on for his city like Dame. He understands he has it good in Portland, and the fans completely embrace his style of play and competitive mentality.

That’s why despite an Irving-Lillard deal making a whole lot of sense, it’s difficult imagining a Portland Trail Blazers team without Damian Lillard.

Coming out of a small college like Weber State, Lillard was unanimously voted Rookie of the Year before going on to lead the Blazers to four straight playoff appearances. Were it not for how convoluted the Western Conference has become, Lillard arguably should have four All-Star appearances rather than two.

Give credit to the entire Blazers organization for making all the right moves during their 2012 overhaul, but drafting Lillard was the by far the best decision they made that year. Changing the culture was certainly a team effort, but Lillard gave the Blazers an edge they had been missing since Brandon Roy.

Simply put: it doesn’t make any sense for the Blazers to trade away a loyal player for a guy that’s proved willing to leave one of the best teams in the NBA (and one of the best players ever to play the game) because of some misplaced ego trip.

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Damian Lillard is Portland, and Portland is Damian Lillard.