The 2021-22 NBA season has been a struggle for the Portland Trail Blazers. They had hoped that the decision to remove Terry Stotts as head coach and replace him with Chauncey Billups would help get the team over the hump, but that has not been the case. The team has taken a step backward in Billups’ first season, clouding the future of the franchise.
Portland is currently 16-24 and are in the final spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament. That is far from the expectations the team had coming into the season. Despite their struggles in the postseason, the Trail Blazers have been perennial playoff contenders, qualifying for postseason eight consecutive seasons.
The team’s defense continues to be underwhelming, as Billups has been unable to do much to fix that. But, the biggest issue plaguing Portland is that Damian Lillard is not performing as well as we have gotten used to seeing him.
Lillard struggled earlier this season adjusting to the new rules the league put in place about rewarding non-basketball plays with foul shots. In addition to that, the abdominal issue he said he has been dealing with for years has flared up and caused some issues.
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He was in the midst of the worst shooting season of his career, as he is making only 40.2 percent of his shot attempts overall and 32.4 percent of his 3-pointers. Lillard has already missed seven games this season as well; could there be more on the horizon.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Lillard plans to have surgery on a lingering abdominal injury. While it’s not expected to sideline him for the remainder of the season, it hasn’t been determined yet that it will not be the case.
It’s terrible to see one of the NBA’s brightest stars in Lillard knocked out of the lineup because of an injury. But, given the team’s current standing, a shutdown became too logical.
LATEST NBA NEWS: Sixers, Rival Teams ‘Optimistic’ Lillard Could Request Trade
The Trail Blazers are going nowhere fast this season as they would be lucky to advance through the play-in tournament, let alone a round in the postseason. Shutting Damian Lillard down now and having him ready to go for the 2022-23 season could be the best course of action for Portland.
The Trail Blazers also owe their first-round pick to the Chicago Bulls from the trade that brought them, Larry Nance Jr., if they fall outside of the top-14 in the draft. That is a draft pick the Trail Blazers desperately need to start building a foundation for the future.
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With a rebuild possibly on the table, Portland would assuredly love to have what could be a top-10 pick as the centerpiece of it.
Look for Portland to be open for business ahead of the deadline, as they have players, such as Robert Covington and Jusuf Nurkic, on expiring deals that could be attractive to other teams. Nance, who has been one of the most consistent Portland Trail Blazers this season, is also garnering plenty of attention.
