Point guard Damian Lillard has spent his entire career with the Trail Blazers, and despite publicly stating multiple times that he intends to spend the rest of his career in Portland, his name has been featured in trade rumors off and on for years. Lillard recently gave some advice to Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has been the subject of similar speculation.
“The grass is not always greener on the other side,” Lillard said, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman.
“You never know what it’s going to look like or how the next team might view you, especially when you’ve had some injuries like he’s had,” Lillard continued. “You just don’t know. Also I would tell him a lot of these people that are saying ‘free him’ and all of these things or whatever, they are not the people that are going to have to live with the consequences if it doesn’t work out. They’re not gonna ever have to walk in his shoes.”
Lillard also complimented Gilgeous-Alexander’s excellent start to the 2022/23 season, per Mussatto.
“He’s coming into his own,” Lillard said. “I can remember when I was younger and I became the leader of a team. … I see that he’s in that stage. He’s trying to show what he can do — almost like a coming out party for him.
“He’s having a great season. He’s playing confident, he’s playing well for the team and it’s fun to watch, just not when it happens against us.”
Here’s more from the Northwest:
- The Timberwolves continue to have an up-and-down season. They won three straight with Rudy Gobert sidelined with an ankle injury (though they were playing three similarly inconsistent opponents in the Thunder, Mavs and Bulls), and have now dropped two straight with him back. Still, Gobert says he’s pleased with the team’s effort, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “I’m really happy about the way we come in every day working, putting in the extra work,” he said. “And then when it’s game time, I’m really happy with the physicality, the competitiveness. I think that’s what’s going to take us as far as we can go.”
- Anthony Edwards has shown improvement as a play-maker for the Timberwolves, and La Velle E. Neal III of The Star Tribune believes the 21-year-old has higher upside in that role than Karl-Anthony Towns. Edwards still needs to find more consistency, but it would be a good thing if Edwards becomes the face of the franchise sooner rather than later, according to Neal.
- Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen has a strong case to become a first-time All-Star, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. He says been striving to achieve that goal for years. “I’ve said this publicly before, but absolutely it has always been my personal goal. Obviously I’ve got team goals and I’m always gonna push those first, but like at an individual level that’s always been my goal. Not just to be one of the guys in the league, I want to make it to the top,” Markkanen said. Through 32 games (33.8 MPG), he’s averaging a career-high 22.8 PPG, along with 8.1 RPG and 2.1 APG. He’s also posting career-best marks from the field (53.3%) and from three-point range (43.8%).
Lauri should be an All Star. Minnesota gave their future away. They were fleeced by Danny Anige. Conway will have a lot of explaining to do but he had his money. They are 10 they would be higher if no trade.
You know that Lauri was traded from Cleveland, right? Just checking. =)
Still, I think both Utah and Cleveland got a win from the trade. They had extra assets that wouldn’t equal a top tier talent without combining them like they did. The Jazz got the an influx of new talent along with future possibilities. Pretty equal.
The Gobert trade required an overpay, because the Jazz could’ve just kept him and been happy. They could’ve just replaced the head coach, like they did, and had a different outlook. Instead, Minnesota got their undivided attention away from Chicago, Toronto, along with some others that weren’t talked about as much, plus those that kept it quiet. I’m sure they were thinking the picks will be later first round picks. The players they gave up would’ve all required renegotiating bigger contracts, except Kessler the rookie. Maybe they weren’t confident they could resign them all? Then it makes more sense.
Everybody in the NBA knew that Utah was gonna blow it up, and that Gobert would be dealt. Minnesota did a ridiculous overpay because the guy in charge, Tim Connelly, in his first year, had no idea what he was doing, and gave away the franchise for Gobert. Meanwhile, Walker Kessler, is averaging more blocks per game than Rudy in half the minutes. Rim protection???
Tim Connelly actually came from Denver’s Front Office. He is very good at finding hidden gems through free agency. He probably already knew he had some free agents ready to sign to fill in the missing roster spots. I actually think they have a great roster. They might just need a different system or a better coach to utilize them. That or they need to play their defensive players more alongside Rudy and trade the defensive liabilities.
The other thing to consider is that the NBA has a lot of good teams. Look at how close the record is for so many teams. There’s only a few elite teams. Those ones have clear separation. Then there’s some great teams that are great only because they all have an MVP level talent on their roster.
Dallas, however, has an MVP talent, but let their second best player go this past Summer. You can see how much they miss his leadership and clutch play. Look at how much better the Knicks are this year?
Blocks are a funny stat. They need to keep track of how many shots are altered or deterred altogether. The younger unknown centers tend to get more blocks because other players are testing their limits. They don’t know yet how good of a shot blocker Kessler really is yet, for example. So they go at him more directly.
While Gobert is world known for his defense and rebounding. He deters and alters more shots than anyone or at least most. I tell people to count how many times players turn around while starting their drive, and pass to someone else, when they see him. Lol
Gobert is currently tied for number 5 in Defensive RAPTOR rating with Capela. Kessler is ranked 28th. For reference, Embiid is 8th, Paul George is 18th, Jarrett Allen is 29th, Royce is ranked 59th, etc. In other words, Gobert is still top 5 ranked defender in the NBA. Kessler is showing he’s really good for a rookie as well, but not nearly the same level yet.
The TWolves wanted a known commodity over a rookie. They were tired of losing. It’ll take time for the mental shift to happen for them. They’ve been okay with losing for too long. Not every person can just flip a switch and start to think differently.
Correction, Paul George is tied for 16th.
FYI, Alex Caruso is ranked 1st so far this year. Anthony Davis is 2nd. Next is Jokic, Lopez, then Capela and Gobert are tied for 5th.
Watched a YouTuber go over the possible All-Star candidates. Markkanen stats vs the competition gives him a really good shot to make the list. Plus, the game is in Utah. Perfect timing to become a first time All-Star. That’ll be really cool for him and the team.
Walker Kessler will be in the rookie/sophomore game.
Beasley deserves to be in the 3-point contest.
Sexton would be really fun in the skills challenge.
I’m sure they’ll look to bring in Stockton and Malone for stuff as well. They could look at AK, Hornacek, Boozer, Deron, Okur, etc. They could at least make an appearance at some of the events. Dwayne Wade seems confident it’ll be a great weekend. Here’s hoping! =)
He has earned it and the game being in Utah pushes it over the line for him. It’s an awesome story.