BLAZER SEASON WRAP FOR DAME TIME

Another Blazer season, another year, and another view of Damian Lillard.

The best teammate award and a first round exit.

Who doesn’t get caught up in the whirlwind of the NBA Playoffs without noticing Lillard?

I’m not asking who thinks they know what he should do next. It’s been another year, a primetime season, but the post season isn’t changing.

While I’m not asking the question, lots of people have the answer.

A former player and current TV sports guy has an answer: Leave Portland for Boston or LA.

Kendrick Perkins@KendrickPerkinsHey @Dame_Lillard it’s time brother! You have done enough for that organization bro! It’s time for you to take your talents else where! The @Lakers or @celtics would be a great fit for you. Carry on… IMOP

‘That organization’ is the Portland Trail Blazers. Is changing teams better than changing the organization?

Next Blazer Season?

From The Godfather Dwight Jaynes:

Dwight Jaynes@dwightjaynesTerry Stotts has likely coached his last game for the Trail Blazers

Coach Stotts looked like a dead man walking after all the calls for change coming from local sports talk radio. Has he lost the team?

Another twitter analyst chimes in with:

Stotts as the fall guy? It’s the GM who needs to go. If Danny Ainge doesn’t recieve a call from a 503 or 425 area code by noon tomorrow, Blazer fans should boycott the team for the entire 2021-2022 season.

Danny Ainge is the solution? The former North Eugene Highlander? Wiki explains:

Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, Ainge was a multi-sport star at North Eugene High School. He led the Highlanders’ basketball team to consecutive AAA state titles in 1976 and 1977, earning all-state honors both years, and was considered one of the top football recruits in Oregon at wide receiver.

He also a former Blazer, along with a championship pedigree with Boston as a player and a front office guy. Danny Ainge takes over and brings in Jason Kidd? What’s the run-time for that new era?

Lillard Sweepstakes

Back to twitter:

If stotts goes olshey MUST go too. This roster has never been good enough to win a championship. I get stotts is not the best coach but he can only do so much with the hand he is dealt. 1 all star plus a bunch of role players is not good enough. That’s on the GM not the coach.

The current General Manager is not getting the love after the Blazer season wrap in the first round. For all the good reasons to reorganize, the scoreboard has the last word.

But think of the rotating cast of players Lillard has had in his time here. He seems to embrace the new guys, not feel threatened. He welcomes them to Portland.

It’s a family affair. Even the Governor gets in on it:

Governor Kate Brown@OregonGovBrownWith so many vaccinated fans at the @modacenter tonight thanks to our partnership with @OHAOregon and the Blazers organization, I am confident that our @trailblazers can tie this series back up. Let’s go, #RipCity! This isn’t over yet, @GovofCo!

Now it is.

How Good Is The Best Blazer Ever

ESPN Stats & Info@ESPNStatsInfo Damian Lillard became the 4th player in NBA history with 200 points and 60 assists in a playoff series, joining LeBron James, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson. Lillard was the only one to accomplish the feat in 6 games.

Are the names familiar? Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, and LeBron James?

The Lakers won a title in 1954. The next one came in 1972. Do the math. Jerry West didn’t get his chip until Wilt Chamberlain showed up in a headband. He brought one with him from the 76ers five years earlier.

A year earlier the Big O won a title in Milwaukie with Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul Jabbar. He changed teams like Wilt and joined the most dominant big man of his era. What about Wilt? Kareem passed him by.

Guys change teams and move up. LeBron is the role model for this. He’s not chasing rings, but he moves to new teams and wins. From Miami, to Cleveland, to LA, he’s been the standard.

Is it Lillard’s time to move, to find his place at the top at the end of the season? He wants it to happen in Portland, but are the Blazers the right team?

Where is his Wilt? His Kareem? Does he need a LeBron?

Who is coming to town for that party if he stays, if he gets the right players?

One thing we do know, he’ll be a great teammate and a great player. What more is there to ask for?

Damian Lillard has been a great Oregonian.

He wants his chance to hold this: