7. Damian Lillard, PG, Portland Trail Blazers – Defensive effort
The Portland Trail Blazers faced an uncertain future this offseason, when backlash over new head coach Chauncey Billups and his past allegedly pushed superstar guard Damian Lillard to the brink of asking out. Instead, things calmed down, and for now Lillard seems committed to trying to compete for a title in Portland.
To do that, he absolutely needs better support from management in building the roster, and from his teammates in stepping up. Lillard also has to turn the mirror towards himself and take ownership for the fact that he is a terrible defender at the point of attack and puts his teammates in difficult situations.
Last season by any metric Lillard was phenomenal on offense, an unstoppable shooting force. Yet when the ball went to the other end of the court he was stationary, slow to react and frequently out of position. That doesn’t have to be the case! Lillard knows exactly how other players move and exploits that to find openings to shoot. He can absolutely apply some of that preparation and effort into playing defense.
Lillard is hardly the first superstar offensive guard to be lackluster on defense, but it’s hard for such a player to win a title. It’s even more difficult for Lillard because he plays next to CJ McCollum, also a poor defender. Lillard is by all accounts a great leader and culture-setter, and he needs to lead out in playing hard on both ends of the court, especially in the postseason.