Portland Trail Blazers: 5 reasons they miss the playoffs in 2017-18

4. Damian Lillard’s health

There is no doubt in my mind that Damian Lillard is one of the best point guards in the NBA. Time and time again, Lillard has proven to be an incredible leader and a dominant force offensively, forcing teams to devote the majority of their defensive game plans to stopping him — or, at the very least, limiting him.

That being said, there simply is no Portland Trail Blazers success without Damian Lillard. He’s Terry Stotts’ floor general, the guy that the organization has relied upon to succeed where most other players in the NBA would have definitely fallen short.

Like Nurkic, Lillard is indispensable in this system. Without Dame steering the ship, it’s tough to see either of his backups — Shabazz Napier or Evan Turner — faring quite as well.