2019 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far
Damian Lillard: 4 years, $196 million (Portland Trail Blazers)
Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is working toward agreement on a four-year, $196 million super maximum contract extension, league sources told @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2019
On the one hand, smaller markets have to hang onto their superstars when they can. Damian Lillard’s loyalty to the Portland Trail Blazers has been well-documented, and the team is coming off a feel-good trip to the Western Conference Finals, but more playoff exits usually result in unrest for the game’s biggest stars.
That’s why this four-year, $196 million supermax extension, which will pay Dame $54.3 million in 2024-25, was a necessary evil. Watching Lillard outplay Russell Westbrook this season (and in their head-to-head playoff series) put the four-time All-Star in rarified air among the league’s elite crop of current point guards.
However, even with a rising salary cap, this gargantuan extension severely clogs up Rip City’s books for the next six years, which will in turn make it harder to put a championship-caliber roster around one of the greatest players in franchise history. Making sure Dame is a Blazer for life is priority No. 1, but every move from here needs to be made with care in order to properly construct a winning team. The margin for error is razor-thin now.
Grade: B