The Portland Trail Blazers’ all-time starting 5
By Erris Brown
Point Guard: Damian Lillard
Career stats: 23.5 PPG, 6.3 APG, 4.1 RPG, 43.4 FG%, 36.9 3P%
The man of the hour is the first man up, and the chosen one to lead the point for the Blazers’ all-time starting five. Lillard’s resume speaks for itself. When he was drafted sixth overall out of Weber State back in 2012, Lillard was brought to a Trail Blazers squad in desperate need of a point guard with dynamic scoring ability.
The result? A career 20 points per game scorer with great facilitating ability to accompany his shooting prowess. Combining to be the Blazers’ Robin to then Batman, LaMarcus Aldridge, Lillard came in as a fiery point capable of leading a formidable Western Conference team. He proved as much after ultimately becoming the torchbearer following Aldridge’s free agency departure in 2015.
Lillard has led the Blazers to the postseason every year following his rookie campaign, reaching as far as the second round, and is shaping up to do so yet again this spring. Career performances such as a 50-point outburst in Sacramento last year, a 59-point game against Utah in 2017, and one of the best buzzer-beaters in league history in the 2014 NBA Playoffs against the Houston Rockets already make the 28-year-old a Blazers icon.
Combine all that with a Rookie of the Year Award, All-NBA First, Second and Third Team selections, and four All-Star appearances, and you have the greatest point guard in franchise history to date.