When captain Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers walk off of their home court tomorrow night against Minnesota, and next Wednesday against Denver, the home town crowd should be shaking the rafters with a thunderous ovation.
This team has flat out knocked it out of the park, after most wondered if they were going to get knocked out of the majority of their games.
Four veterans departed in the offseason, and the team virtually did not miss a beat behind the leadership of its 4th year point guard, and that’s without any major upgrades to the roster.
That kind of a turnover and turn-around is unheard of. That’s an overnight rebuild, and it just doesn’t happen. It’s the kind of season that is garnering executive of the year talk for GM Neil Olshey, coach of the year talk for Terry Stotts, and putting Damian Lillard in the MVP discussion.
You can look at the 2001-2002 Nets, 2004-2005 Suns, 1989-1990 Spurs, 1997-1998 Spurs, and the 2007-2008 Celtics for a more drastic turnaround in overall wins, but it’s insanely rare to see a complete roster overhaul in June, and a playoff team form in April. It just doesn’t happen.
In the past, when a torch was passed from Walton to Drexler or Drexler to Rasheed, or Rasheed to Randolph, or Randolph to Roy, or Roy to Aldridge, there was a valley before the peaks were reached.
Portland was founded in 1970 and drafted Bill Walton in 1974, but did not reach the playoffs until 1977, the same year they won their first and only title. Bill Walton was lost in March of 1978 and the team scraped by until the arrival of Drexler in 1983, when he led them to 13 consecutive playoff appearances and two trips to the NBA Finals.
Rasheed Wallace took the torch from Drexler in 1996, and continued the playoff streak through 2003, posting a franchise record (and modern NBA record) 21 consecutive playoff appearances.
Zach Randolph took the torch from Wallace in 2003, and despite putting up stellar individual numbers, “ZBo” was not able to lead Portland to more than one winning record and no playoff appearances in three seasons as the leader in the locker room.
Brandon Roy took the torch from Randolph in 2006, and after winning Rookie of the Year that same he year, he helped Portland get back to a winning record in 2007, and get back in the playoffs in 2008.
Roy had to retire for medical reasons in 2011, when he passed the torch to LaMarcus Aldridge, who like Randolph had stellar individual numbers, but struggled to lead the team to winning seasons and playoff berths. With the arrival of Damian Lillard in 2012 and Wesley Mathews rounding in to form, the Trail Blazers were back on track, and posted a winning record in 2013, won their first playoff series since 2000, and sent both Aldridge and Lillard to the all-star game. While working together for three seasons, Lillard and Aldrdige posted back to back 50-win seasons and made the playoffs in Lillard’s 2nd and 3rd seasons.
Aldridge handed Lillard the torch on his way out the door in the summer of 2015, and the duo of Lillard and most improved player candidate CJ McCollum have been running the floor since. With just two games remaining and a record of 43-37, Portland is not going to post their third consecutive 50-win season, but they will be making the playoffs for the third consecutive season, despite wholesale changes being made last summer.
Gone are 2015 starters Aldridge (San Antonio) Mathews (Dallas), Robin Lopez (New York), Nic Batum (Charlotte), and yet the results have been mostly the same, despite the on court product being drastically different.
While last year’s team could be summed up as a slower and less effective Spurs squad, this year’s team looks more and more like Golden State did in 2013, which would put them on a pretty spectacular path. Lillard becomes the 7th unofficial torch bearer of greatness in Rip City, and has this team on his back, and everyone on the roster has his.
Lillard has arguably put up MVP caliber numbers this season, taken on the unenviable task of matching the opponent’s best scorer point for point, and being the vocal and moral leader of this team, night in and night out. He doesn’t say much, he doesn’t ask for much, but man does he do a whole heck of a lot.
His quiet but steady leadership is exactly what this team needs, and exactly what so many were expecting from Aldridge, but just never received. You can tell by every move he makes and every look on his face, that these are his guys and that regardless of what his fans or the media or even other players think, these are his guys. He doesn’t need LeBron or D-Wade, he has CJ. He doesn’t need Kevin Love, he has Ed. He doesn’t need Wilt Chamberlin, he has Miles. He doesn’t need Kevin Durant, he has Moe.
These are his guys, and he is clearly comfortable taking on any team in the league on any night as long as he has his guys on his side. Make sure you celebrate this season, what these guys have done, and give them a standing ovation when they close out the season.
Where they are today is light years ahead of where the expectations had them going, and that’s worth a round of applause and a pat on the back.
You’ve seen Lillard’s thoughts on the MVP chants, he thinks of the fans here as family, and they return the feeling. This is our city, this is our team, this is our family.
Give them a standing ovation on April 13th. Officially embrace them as family the way they deserve.
Embrace the newest torch bearer of greatness. Embrace Damian Lillard as the leader of today, and tomorrow.
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