Should Blazers trade Damian Lillard or get him help after early playoff exit?

LeBron James wasn’t the only star player ousted from the NBA playoffs on Thursday.

More than 900 miles to the north in Portland, Damian Lillard was also heading for the door. His postseason dreams were once again dashed earlier than planned, despite his individual brilliance, which included an eye-popping, 55-point explosion in a double-overtime Game 5 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Lillard has been in the league nine seasons, and he has led his team to the playoffs in each of the past eight. Yet his teams have advanced as far as the Western Conference finals only once. That came in 2019 and resulted in a sweep at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.

Perhaps it was frustration – or maybe just exhaustion – that led to Lillard’s cryptic Instagram post Thursday evening.

"How long should I stay dedicated?" he wrote, quoting the late rapper Nipsey Hussle. "How long til opportunity meet preparation?"

When it comes to preparation and performance, it’s hard to top Lillard. The six-time All-Star was brilliant this season and even better against Denver in the playoffs. He averaged 34.3 PPG in six games against the Nuggets while shooting 45% from 3-point range. He dished out 10.3 assists per game and grabbed 4.3 rebounds. It’s hard to imagine what else he could have done. 

Now maybe Lillard, who will turn 31 in July, wants a little bit of help.

Change appears to be coming for the organization. On Friday, the Blazers and coach Terry Stotts agreed to go their separate ways. 

Whatever Lillard intended to say with that post, it led to plenty of speculation across the NBA.

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One of those speculating was Stephen A. Smith of ESPN, who said several teams could make a play for Portland's star.

"You’ve got a lot of teams, about six or seven different teams, who believe they can get their hands on [Lillard]," Smith said. "They think they’ve got a shot. One of them includes the Knicks, who’s scheduled to have about $75 million in cap space along with some picks. But also the Clippers, the Miami Heat, and who knows what the Lakers may try to do? Stay tuned. The Damian Lillard news could ultimately be percolating a little bit sooner than later, much to my surprise."

On the other hand, maybe the Blazers don't need to make such a drastic move. Maybe they just need to get Lillard some support. 

That’s the argument Colin Cowherd made Friday on "The Herd."

"Take a big swing," he said. "Give Dame somebody."

Cowherd did not come to that conclusion without giving it some thought. He used to work in Portland and expressed his appreciation for a franchise that has been quietly competent – if rarely great – for years.

He noted that the Blazers have had more than their fair share of bad luck over the years and listed great Portland players who fell apart physically sooner than they should have.

"There has never been a franchise that has been snake-bit like the Blazers," he said.

Bill Walton, Sam Bowie, Brandon Roy and Greg Oden were all potentially great Trail Blazers whose bodies broke down, Cowherd said.

"I don’t blame Portland for any of those," he said. "I don’t even blame them for not drafting Michael Jordan. [The Blazers drafted Bowie ahead of Jordan in the 1984 draft]. They had Clyde Drexler, who’s another one of the greatest college players I’ve ever seen, played the same position as Michael. And Bowie was unbelievable."

But, Cowherd said, the Lillard situation is different. He landed in the Blazers' lap, a surprise star out of Weber State, in 2012. He has been durable, tough and loyal. And as Lillard has blossomed into one of the NBA’s best offensive guards, the team has failed to get him a properly skilled running mate.

"I’m not saying it’s easy [to find a No. 2)]" Cowherd said. "But you’ve been trying to convince us [Jusuf] Nurkic, CJ McCollum – good players, like ‘em both, love ‘em on my roster. They’re not 2s."

Now, Cowherd said, the Blazers need to pull out all the stops to get Lillard a co-star. What they’ve tried so far has not worked, but this isn’t about rotten luck. This time, according to Cowherd, it's on the Blazers.

"You’ve gotta blow this thing up, give Dame somebody. Dames don’t exist. It’s not easy to find a No. 2, but finding Dame is next to impossible."

The Blazers are in an interesting spot. They have one of the league's best players under contract, and they would certainly receive several offers if they put him on the market. But would it be enough to make them title contenders, or would they be better off trying to improve the current roster around their star?

That's the big question they'll have to tackle in the offseason.

For Cowherd’s full breakdown of Lillard and the Blazers, check out the video below:

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