There was always a good discussion, no matter which side your take was on, surrounding the All-Star candidacy of the Portland Trail Blazers’ star guard, Damian Lillard. And this exchange of views undoubtedly will resurface over the next week as NBA coaches fill out their votes for the All-Star reserves.
In the past few seasons, Lillard was all but quiet about it. He rapped about getting snubbed, sarcastically thanked coaches who felt he wasn’t good enough and was vocal in TV interviews. Here’s one of his annual February rants (from 2015):
“I’m definitely going to take it personally. I said I’d be pissed off about it and I am. I just felt disrespected because I play the game the right way, I play unselfishly, I play for my team to win games and I produce at a high level.”
The truth is, Lillard was in when his team was in playoff contention, and he finally seems to understand this, judging by his statement from last week:
“I think the previous two years, we weren’t in the playoffs, so that was the excuse. Well, we are in the playoffs, and I think I’ve played at a high level. And I feel like it’s not even close that’s it’s been my best defensive year. So at this point, what is the excuse? There’s no excuse. I should be there.”
How do you feel about Lillard’s season? Will he make the cut? The oddsmakers at BetDSI.eu feel he should be on one of the two teams.
Will Damian Lillard make the 2018 All-Star roster?
Yes -140
No +110
Check all NBA All-Star Game Draft Odds at BetDSI Sportsbook
The books are glad to offer you the prop to back your call with a nice investment, and seem to believe that Lillard will be among the seven West reserves selected by the NBA coaches. As a reminder, a combination of public, media and player votes selected these five players as the Western Conference starters: Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.
Lillard’s competition for spots has always been tough, and this year is no different. Someone’s going to be snubbed, and it could be Lillard again.
Let’s dig into it from two perspectives: Lillard’s stats this season, and how he stacks up against other candidates.
Lillard’s 2017-18 season hasn’t been as good as he’s trying to project. Yes, the Trailblazers are much improved defensively across most statistical categories, but a large portion of this improvement comes for taking a different approach to games – slowing it down – and this should be credited to the coaching staff, not Lillard.
Also, there’s a roster change. Jusuf Nurkic is a true center, an anchor that protects on ball-defenders and makes them look less bad. Defensive stats are hard to measure and even if they were true, it’s an obvious bluff as defense almost never gets you to All-Star games.
Offensively, Lillard has come alive lately but is having a down season. His 42.8 shooting percentage from the field won’t wow any coach, and the team-leading 25 points he’s been putting up for the Blazers are a product of volume, rather than efficient shooting. Lillard has been hitting 35 percent of his threes and averages a mere 6.5 assists per night. Always a solid rebounder from the point guard position, he grabs 4.8 boards on average. The turnover numbers aren’t great either with 3.2 balls down the drain, particularly compared against the assists.
Compared to the previous two seasons, Lillard is either worse or on par to what he had done, so it could be argued whether or not Portland is winning because of or in spite of his play.
And this year Lillard’s trump card isn’t as strong either. The Blazers are currently holding onto a nice 6th place in the West, but with a 24-21 record they could end up being eighth in matter of days.
I’ve already touched on this in a previous NBA All-Star Game props article, but let’s compare Lillard’s case against the rest of the pool.
Carrying the Spurs to the third spot in the standing, all without Kawhi Leonard, makes Lillard’s former teammate, LaMarcus Aldridge, a certain All-Star reserve. The Timberwolves and the Thunder also currently have no representatives. Minnesota could snatch two spots with Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns, while Russell Westbrook, even in a down year, is having a much better season than Lillard. Those four are rock-solid selections, so only three spots remain.
Golden State and Houston are head above others this season, and those teams could be rewarded with another spot. Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Chris Paul are targets, but it’s more realistic that only one remaining spot goes there.
Paul George has a case, Blake Griffin too, and the Nuggets are lobbying for Nikola Jokic. I’m already going bust on the count, so I’m not even going to plead the case about Gary Harris, Louis Williams, Clint Capela, Andrew Wiggins or Donovan Mitchell. These players might get some votes along with the Gasol brothers, so it’s going to be a tight race for the final spots.
If you are a Blazers fans, look away.
With “No” option given +110 odds, I’m after another Lillard snub. It’s 50-50 at best in my estimation, so the extra value is forcing my hand.
