Maybe that’s what was missing Damian Lillard to approach his eleventh consecutive season at the Blazers: a serious paint job on the workforce! The Oregon franchise took advantage of the outbreak of Anfernee Simons during last season to change course.
CJ McCollum jumped ship to make room for the young fullback, but also Josh Hart, whose contract was guaranteed, and Portland took advantage of the offseason to continue this facelift with the arrivals of Jerami Grant and Gary Payton II in his nets, without forgetting the promising rookie Shaedon Sharpe.
Surrounded by new faces, the leader of the Blazers appreciates the uncertainty linked to the exercise to come at the end of a rather difficult season, stopped in January for him.
“I think that’s the biggest difference, how refreshing it is. It brings you excitement, because you don’t really know what to expect. It’s fun for me”, said “Lady Time”absent from the meeting against Golden State yesterday, for the last preseason game of Portland. “I got to know the younger guys, some of our new players, and build those relationships. It’s not the same as before. It’s something new and it’s fresh, you know? It feels good “.
Ensure the links between the players
Portland’s tour de force is above all to have been able to operate its reconstruction while maintaining a certain competitiveness. On paper, the forces present to surround Damian Lillard have nothing to envy to the group present on the starting line last year. It now remains to build the necessary cohesion to magnify the qualities of each and get the best out of this team which still lacks collective experience.
“The most cohesive teams are very successful. That’s our goal, for our team, and that’s the kind of team I want to build. I want to be the type of team no one really wants to play against.”explained Chauncey Billups.
The Blazers will get down to business in Sacramento on Wednesday for their regular season opener.
| Damian Lillard | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2012-13 | ORP | 82 | 39 | 42.9 | 36.8 | 84.4 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 6.5 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 0.2 | 19.1 |
| 2013-14 | ORP | 82 | 36 | 42.4 | 39.4 | 87.1 | 0.4 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 5.6 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 20.7 |
| 2014-15 | ORP | 82 | 36 | 43.4 | 34.3 | 86.4 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 6.2 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 21.0 |
| 2015-16 | ORP | 75 | 36 | 41.9 | 37.5 | 89.2 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 6.8 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 25.1 |
| 2016-17 | ORP | 75 | 36 | 44.4 | 37.0 | 89.5 | 0.6 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 27.0 |
| 2017-18 | ORP | 73 | 37 | 43.9 | 36.1 | 91.6 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 6.6 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 26.9 |
| 2018-19 | ORP | 80 | 36 | 44.4 | 36.9 | 91.2 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 6.9 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 25.8 |
| 2019-20 | ORP | 66 | 38 | 46.3 | 40.1 | 88.8 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 8.0 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 0.3 | 30.0 |
| 2020-21 | ORP | 67 | 36 | 45.1 | 39.1 | 92.8 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 7.5 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 28.8 |
| 2021-22 | ORP | 29 | 36 | 40.2 | 32.4 | 87.8 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 7.3 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 24.0 |
| Total | 711 | 36 | 43.7 | 37.3 | 89.3 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 6.7 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 24.6 | |
