NBA: Ranking every team’s best player in 2019-20

Damian Lillard is one of the game’s unique and broadly accomplished stars. Although many accuse his game of simply being “Steph Curry-lite” his impact on basketball has been wide-ranging. He has not one but two walk-off series-clinching shots in his career.

He is an accomplished rap artist, has an array of excellent nicknames (including a portion of the game dubbed “Dame Time” for his late-game heroics) and is the face of sports in Oregon.

That is without describing his purely basketball accomplishments, which are many. He has been an All-NBA selection four times, finished as high as fourth in MVP voting (2017-18) and led the Portland Trail Blazers to the playoffs for six straight years despite never playing alongside another All-Star.

A deadly shooter, Lillard is a threat to pull up from anywhere on the court — including the logo. He is a willing distributor and gives effort on defense even if he’s not a plus in that area. What is most valuable and least definable is Lillard’s effect on team culture; every player to pass through Portland raves about it, and each year the team exceeds expectations.

Looking ahead: This is Damian Lillard’s team and it will likely be until he retires. This year will probably cement him as the greatest player in franchise history and at 29 he is still firmly in his prime. CJ McCollum is a solid co-star and Anfernee Simons is expected by many to take a leap forward, but neither will eclipse Lillard anytime soon, if at all.

Even if this team takes a swing and trades for a player such as Kevin Love this will still be Lillard’s team.