All hail Damian Lillard.
It won’t be easy, but it’s for the best.
When the Portland Trail Blazers ran through LaMarcus Aldridge, they — even with Aldridge and Brandon Roy for six seasons — never made it past the first round.
The dynamic of late was Aldridge, three set shooters, and designated rebounder Robin Lopez. Wesley Matthews’ anterior cruciate ligament tear slowed the Blazers’ offense and Aldridge, Lopez, Matthews, and Nicolas Batum left. The Blazers were set for another first-round folly, anyway.
Enter Lillard, who crashed the Houston Rockets and put the Blazers in the second round for the first time in 14 years. With a five-year max extension and neither opt-outs nor trade kickers, turning Portland back into a title contender is on his shoulders.
“My life came full circle at the park was throwing left hooks,” Dame DOLLA — ‘Different on Levels the Lord Allows’ — rapped in ‘Soldier in the Game.’ “Now I’m in the league with Steph Curry and Russell Westbrook. Took a couple bumps, boy you never would see my chest shook. My heart came from a lion, this path only the best took.”
Lillard, second behind Aldridge with a 21-point average for Portland last season, is out to rival Curry and Westbrook for scoring titles.
“It’s always room for a real one ‘cuz you can’t finesse the grind,” said Lillard in ‘Full Stomach.’ “The chatter gets ignored because they hating from behind. It’s gettin’ clear they bothered that I’m here. The top in my side mirror — Closer than it appears.”
Lillard’s new accomplices can’t afford the complacency that limited Blazer teams of years past — each is on edge, trying to keep roster spots, but CJ McCollum, third in Blazers scoring last season at 17 points per contest, is Lillard’s knight. New to Portland’s backcourt are Gerald Henderson, Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, Tim Frazier, Dorell Wright, Pat Connaughton, Dani Diez and Phil Pressey. Alonzo Gee and Allan Crabbe return.
“When it’s hard, you see the strong rise above it,” Lillard raps in ‘Free Bands.’ “Smile when they ask about the grind cuz I love it. Got the game from Pops, mind frame from my cousin. Always in my bag, never lag, easy does it.”
Portland, perhaps tired of getting worked over in the key, stocked up on size with youth at power forward in Cliff Alexander, Noah Vonleh and Mason Plumlee and Ed Davis. Centers Meyers Leonard, Joel Freeland and Chris Kaman are back to anchor the Blazers in the paint if Lillard and McCollum can’t — or won’t — play defense.
Will the ragtag Blazers play faster to fill in for the star power they have to replace, or will they slow it down and focus on defense? Are the new-look Blazers more balanced than in recent years? Will new fan favorites emerge as they always seem to when Portland imports new talent? Can Lillard’s shoulders bear the weight of the franchise, or is losing four of five starters too much to overcome?
“Sick of these suckers all in my bubble, though, critiquing me on stuff I had to struggle for,” said Lillard in Rap on Sway in the Morning. “This dream has been a long time coming, and my clock was Forrest Gump, it spent a long time running.”
If you don’t recognize any or most of Lillard’s teammates, it’s probably ideal. Lillard and his Blazers have a lot to prove.
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