Damian Lillard believes Portland can build a championship team

Published

Damian Lillard says the Portland Trail Blazers have to do just one thing to become a championship team.

And that's to use him as the central building block moving forward.

Lillard told Shannon Sharpe on a new episode of "Club Shay Shay" that in order for Portland to secure an NBA title, the Blazers should mirror what the Milwaukee Bucks did with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

"I’m not as gifted as Giannis. I'm not 7-foot and all that, but I have things about me that I bring to the table. … I know that if we’re able to go out and get the tools that can complement me and [Anfernee Simons] and [Jusuf Nurkic] and [Nassir Little] and Josh Hart and Joe Ingles, who I love for us … that can take us to that level."

Prior to becoming the 2021 NBA champions, the Bucks brought in Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, P.J. Tucker and Bobby Portis to support superstar Antetokounmpo — a move that paid dividends.

Lillard also said that Portland would be smart to draw inspiration from the Phoenix Suns' rise to prominence.

"If I'm [the] GM, I'm looking at how Phoenix did it because they went from the bottom literally to the top. That's not easy," Lillard said. "I think we're in a position to do that. I'm here. We already have me. We have a quality center. We already have [Simons]. … We're gonna end up with two picks most likely, two lottery picks. … We got money. We have the full mid-level. You know, we got a lot of tools. We got a lot of flexibility. It's just a matter of us using what we have to fill in those pieces in the way that the Suns did."

Phoenix brought in Chris Paul in 2020 to work in tandem with Devin Booker, bringing them above .500 for the first time since the 2013-14 season and to the postseason for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

Lillard, who is out for the rest of this season after undergoing abdominal surgery in January, has three years remaining on his current contract.

Since joining the league in 2012, Lillard has helped Portland get to the postseason every season except his rookie year. In the 2018-19 season, the Blazers made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost four straight to the Golden State Warriors.

Portland has one championship (1977) and three conference titles ('77, ‘90 and ’92) under its belt.

Could 2023 be the year it adds another?

According to Lillard, it's certainly a possibility.