Portland Trail Blazers: 3 goals for Damian Lillard in 2018-19

2. Convert 60 percent of his shots at the rim

Lillard is a gifted offensive talent, capable of scoring in a variety of ways. However, one area where he still seems to have trouble is directly at the rim. In 2017-18, he shot 53.8 percent in the restricted area. That’s 20th-worst in the NBA among players that have attempted at least 100 shots within that zone.

His backcourt teammate, CJ McCollum, suffers from the same issue of struggling to finish at the basket. As stated in McCollum’s own “3 goals” article, the fact that the two most ball-dominant players on the team have the same problem really puts a strain on the Blazers’ offense; it makes them more predictable. Opponents eventually figure out that a strong enough post presence will keep Portland’s stars from converting inside, forcing them to ultimately settle for jump shots.

With Lillard being the face of the team, it’s particularly important that he starts converting more of his shots at the rim. He has actually reached the plateau before, shooting 61.8 percent from inside in 2014-15. Getting back to that level will help Lillard expand his offensive game even more, as well as his team’s production on that end of the floor.