Lillard is a really good basketball player. Teams with really good basketball players always have a chance.
But I just do not get the fascination with his supporting cast. I think they are terrible. CJ McCullom, for all the respect he gets, might be the worst second banana of any good team in the NBA. Nurkic is a productive center, but I wonder if Kanter proved that any center can be productive in Stotts' system. Is he really gonna stand a chance against Davis or James on switches? Carmelo Anthony is a bad basketball player now. They give him isolation plays because that's the only way he can contribute, but he is not contributing efficiently through those. Zach Collins is fine, but is he that good? I mean, he is basically a rotation NBA big. Is he better than Theis? Hassan Whiteside is the all-time good stats bad player guy. Teams with him on the court don't do better. Then what? Anferne Simons? A lot of hope for a guy who hasn't produced. Nassir Little? Bueller? Bueller?
I like Damian Lillard a lot. I respect the fact that he has stayed in Portland. I like the other guys on their team too, but they aren't that good and their record proves it. They have a swagger and confidence -- I'll give them that, but they might be the all-time pickup-basketball-show-up-walking-around-like-you-own-the-gym-lose-in-the-first-game-to-a-bunch-of-old-football-players-who-can't-shoot team.