data-mm-id=”_er5qd9rw5″>Damian Lillard's playoff heroics are legendary in the NBA universe, but they have yet to lead to a ring. The Portland Trail Blazers have ran into an unfortunate combination of untimely injuries and super teams over the last few seasons, despite Lillard cementing himself as a top-15 player in the league with a quality running mate in C.J. McCollum. Lillard is firmly dedicated to staying in Portland. He's made that clear in numerous public statements and when he signed a four-year supermax extension with the Blazers last summer. That deal will keep him in the Pacific Northwest through 2025. Despite Dame's love for Portland, Stephen A. Smith believes he must leave the Trail Blazers if he ever wants a chance at a ring, as discussed on First Take today: Us: what will it take for Damian Lillard to win a ring?@stephenasmith: "Leave Portland." ? pic.twitter.com/EWYF3LpqxI— First Take (@FirstTake) May 19, 2020The first half of Smith's argument has a solid foundation in logic. The league today is centered around elite two-way players. Of the five best players in the NBA right now (LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry) four possess elite offensive and defensive traits. Lillard and McCollum, while excellent offensively, can't be both the No. 1 option and guard the opposing team's best player. They don't need to be able to do that to have success, but it's much harder to win a title when there isn't an overlap between a team's best offensive and defensive players. Unfortunately for Lillard, fate has aligned in such a way that winning a championship in the next five years will require a remarkable amount of luck for Portland. James and Leonard both headed to the Western Conference just as the Warriors' dynasty was dying. Unless injuries strike the Lakers and Clippers, there will always be a difficult road to the NBA Finals. Lillard can catch fire like no one else, but unless Portland can acquire players to guard the elite wings that populate the conference, the team will be hard-pressed to beat the best of the best in a seven-game series. The second half of Smith's point is where he loses me. He suggests the Knicks and the Lakers as two possible alternatives. While Smith admits his bias when it comes to the Knicks, I would argue there is no destination in the NBA that would decrease Lillard's title chances more than that particular organization. The Lakers cannot acquire Lillard, no matter what kind of cap gymnastics they could perform, until LeBron is nearly 40. All in all, Smith is probably right. Portland's options for potential acquisitions are limited with its cap sheet. There's no way for the Blazers to substantially improve unless they trade McCollum, which they won't do without Lillard's sign-off — and, from what we've seen, he isn't particularly likely to do that. Championship heights could be reached if Lilliard somehow ended up in the Eastern Conference and only had one very good team in the Bucks and the injury-prone duo of Durant and Kyrie Irving to go through. Once the Finals start, all bets are off, no matter who Lillard might face off against. But he won't do that, and I'm glad for it. Lillard is a blast to watch, and sports is about watching a great player like him struggle to reach that mountaintop over and over again. If he never reaches it, that's too bad. But his greatness is still undeniable. And if he does, well, it makes for one of basketball's greatest tales.
Related Posts
Manchester City are no different to the dominant sides of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea in years gone by, according to Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson.
Pep Guardiola s City have been a class above this season, threatening to go through the Premier League campaign undefeated following 18 successive victories to open a 15-point lead.
City are a win away from matching the record of 19 consecutive triumphs set by Guardiola at Bayern Munich.
However, Hodgson played down City s exploits as he highlighted United s treble-winning team in 1999, the Invincibles of 2004 under Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho s dominant Chelsea.
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC)
We have seen it in England before, there s no question of th…
Aston Villa s clash with Newcastle United has become the first Premier League match this season to be postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak within one of the teams.
Newcastle say there are several players and staff members self-isolating after returning positive tests in recent days.
The club s training ground has been closed in an effort to contain the outbreak, which has hampered the squad s ability to train and prepare for Friday s game at Villa Park.
Newcastle lodged a request with the Premier League to have the game moved, which was accepted on Tuesday.
In a statement, the Premier League Board said it agreed that Newcastle were unable to train and adequately and safely prepare for their match on Friday .
The statement added: The decision …
Derby County have announced that manager Gary Rowett has signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract.
Rowett was linked with the vacant position at Stoke City after impressing during his time at Pride Park, in which he has guided Derby to second place in the Championship table.
However, the 43-year-old insists he is eager to help the Rams in their promotion push, despite being flattered by reported interest from Premier League clubs.
I would like to thank my immediate staff and back-office teams who have been a massive factor in our progress to date, and will be a critical part of our success moving forward, he told Derby s official website.
The first-team squad have also been superb to work with and have really embraced the changes we felt were necessa…
Liverpool will take a strong squad to the Club World Cup later this month as expected, meaning a youthful selection will contest the EFL Cup clash with Aston Villa.
Jurgen Klopp s European champions are due to play their Club World Cup semi-final in Qatar on December 18, the day after going up against Villa in the EFL Cup quarter-finals.
Liverpool had attempted to get the trip to Villa Park rescheduled on account of the fixture clash, but the EFL were unable to facilitate such a move following discussions.
As such, Klopp previously stated he would have to name two separate squads for the matches.
Our confirmed 23-man squad for the forthcoming FIFA Club World Cup
— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
Thursday s confirmation of a strong first-choice sq…
Goalline technology will be available in all three Football League play-off finals as the season draws to a close.
The stakes could not be higher in Saturday s Championship final as Derby County face QPR at Wembley for a place in the Premier League.
Leyton Orient and Rotherham United clash one day later in the League One play-off final before Burton Albion and Fleetwood Town wrap up the action on Monday in the League Two showdown.
And the Football League announced on Friday that goalline technology would be used in the season-ending matches.
Hawkeye s goal decision system was first tested at Wembley in 2012 and with the use of cameras, sends a signal to a watch worn by the referee if the ball crosses the line.
Commenting on the announcement, Football League…
Reading have reportedly tabled an eight-million-pound bid for Blackpool star Tom Ince.
The Premier League strugglers have made a formal move for the long-term Liverpool target as they attempt to increase their creative options in the final days of the windows.
However, Goal.com understands Ince is holding out for a return to Anfield, as the Reds bidded for the Blackpool winger earlier this month but have not been able to agree a deal.
Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston, widely regarded as a difficult negotiator, had indicated he would not stand in the way of Ince completing a move to Anfield 18 months after he joined the Seasiders for 250,000 pounds.
But the switch had been held up by Blackpool s request to have a sell-on clause inserted into the deal for th…
Callum Wilson is in line for an England recall as boss Gareth Southgate waits on Jude Bellingham’s fitness.
Newcastle striker Wilson has scored 11 goals since he was overlooked for the European Championship qualifying wins against Italy and Ukraine in March.
On Wednesday Southgate names his squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers in Malta on June 16 and at home to North Macedonia in Manchester on June 19, with England top of Group C.
He keeps on delivering when it matters!
…
Julen Lopetegui claimed Wolves were denied a very, very clear penalty by referee Andy Madley in Sunday s 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United.
Wolves were furious in January when they had a late goal disallowed for offside against Liverpool in the FA Cup at Anfield, and they remain convinced that was an injustice.
Madley was also the man in the middle that time, with Wolves denied what would almost certainly have been a winning goal as the game finished 2-2, with Liverpool going on to edge the replay 1-0 at Molineux.
That incident has not been forgotten by Lopetegui, and he was aghast at Wolves being denied a spot-kick early on against Newcastle at St James Park.
Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope took a poor touch and gave away the ball to Wolves striker Raul Jime…
Former Real Madrid striker currently plying his trade at Juventus is nearing an important crossroad in his professional career.
Los Blancos have sold the Spanish striker in the summer of 2014 but have included a buy-back option believed to be worth around €30 million for the player who went on to become one of Europe’s hottest properties.
, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain have already contacted Morata’s representatives eager to splash out on the talented forward. Real Madrid apparently intend to activate their buy-back clause in order to sell Morata for a fee that is likely to be in excess of €60 million which would make a healthy profit for the Spanish giants.
Arsene Wenger is looking to bring fresh blood in attack and offer support for Olivier Giroud, …
Louis van Gaal has been sacked as Manchester United manager after two years in charge.
The former Netherlands boss arrived at the club s training ground in Carrington shortly before 0900GMT and was informed that his contract would be terminated a year early.
United later confirmed the news in a statement, more than three hours after Van Gaal had left their base.
Executive vice chairman Ed Woodward said: I would like to thank Louis and his staff for their excellent work in the past two years culminating in winning a record-equalling 12th FA Cup for the club (and securing him a title in four different countries).
He has behaved with great professionalism and dignity throughout his time here. He leaves us with a legacy of having given several young players …