Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor reacts to the point guard’s decision to go back to the team that drafted him – and how the Trail Blazers now have a very intriguing roster once ‘Dame Time’ is back on the court. Subscribe to “The Kevin O’Connor Show” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
Damian Lillard is going back to Portland on a three-year, $42 million deal with a no trade clause.
First of all, it’s cool, like, it’s just cool.
Dame is going to be able to recover from his torn Achilles in Portland, back home, the place he made his name.
And then joined a team that is actually pretty solid, like the Blazers had a top 5 defensive rating in the second half of last season after the All-Star break.
They had what looks like a really good draft and young Hansen, who’s been just awesome in Summer League.
We have a lot more Summer League talk next week as well, but you look at Portland.
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They trade Dame, they get Jrue Holiday, they get Kamara, they get picks, and then they trade Jrue Holiday to Boston, and they get Time Lord, Malcolm Brogdon, more assets.
Those assets led to Danny Abdiya, and now they have Dame, Andrew, Danny, Williams, and Kamara.
And many, many first-round picks on top of that.
So it’s kind of crazy how everything has come full circle here.
Ever since Dame finds out the grass isn’t always greener, the Blazers drafted Scoot, you know, he has not exactly panned out quite yet to replace Damian Lillard, but they have this team.
That feels like it makes sense, and they’re just missing that point guard.
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And so, maybe Scoot in year three, mentored by Dame, has a breakout year, maybe not.
Maybe Damian Lillard comes back healthy, and now he’s joining a team with Jrue Holiday and Kamara and Danny on the defensive end, and once Dame’s back, maybe Jeremy Grant sticks around, maybe Murray or Rupair ascends, and then you look at the team and it makes sense.
Like this is the type of team Damian Lillard would want to be built around with all these versatile defensive players, spot-up shooters, secondary ball handlers, and then Young and Klinger in the frontcourt together.
That still remains the thing that I’m most fascinated to see what Portland does.
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Are we going to see one of those guys come out with a reliable jumper, Young probably being the more likely one, or are we going to see a situation where Portland is like turning back the clock to the 90s or the 2000s with twin towers, two interior bigs posting up on either elbow.
I just look forward to seeing how the… Blazers built this out, and the fact that Dean’s going back, you know, maybe it had to happen this way for Dame, to find out the grass isn’t always greener.