Damian Lillard firmly believes he'd be a champion already had things turned out differently during his stint with the Trail Blazers. According to Lillard, the departure of his teammate and co-star LaMarcus Aldridge in 2015 robbed him of his best chance to win the Finals.
"If [LaMarcus Aldridge] would have never went to San Antonio, we would have won at least once already. I would have came into my own but he was that good," said Lillard on the Club 520 podcast . "My rookie year, I started with an elbow pull-up jumper off a pick and roll. Like literally, one-two-three dribbles to the elbow, pull-up every time. Cause they trying to get back to him.”
Lillard, 34, has yet to win a championship in his NBA career. Over 12 years in the NBA, the furthest that Lillard has ever gone is the Western Conference Finals, where he and his Trail Blazers got swept at the hands of the Golden State Warriors .
Toward the end of his Blazers tenure, Lillard never got close to winning and his team was not competitive at all. But there was a stretch where the Trail Blazers were a force to fear in the West. For three seasons, from 2012-2015, the team was competitive with a young Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge, who was one of the best offensive bigs in the league at the time.
Aldridge was elite in the mid-range and opened up the paint with his consistent jumper. He was also an expert in the post, where he'd frequently back his opponents down for easy points near the rim.
During nine seasons in Portland, Aldridge averaged 19.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game on 48.5% shooting. With Aldridge, Lillard had a historically great start to his career, winning Rookie of the Year in 2013 while averaging 20.2 points, 6.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game with LA as his teammate.
Together, Lillard and Aldridge didn't have much time together but they took their team to the playoffs each year and were competitive in the West bracket. But before we could see more of what they could do together, Aldridge left the team in 2015 as a free agent.
He chose to sign with the San Antonio Spurs, hoping to maximize his career under legendary head coach Gregg Popovich. He was with the Spurs for six years before being traded to the Nets, where he'd finish his storied career as a 7x All-Star and 5x All-NBA player.
Meanwhile, Lillard would continue with the Trail Blazers until 2023. Over 11 years with the franchise, Lillard averaged 25.2 points, 6.7 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game on 43.9% shooting. While he never won a championship with the Trail Blazers, he's recognized today as the best player in Blazers franchise history .
Had Aldridge never left, or stayed for a few more years, the Trail Blazers might have enjoyed some major prosperity in the West. If not for the Warriors superteam, they might have made history themselves as champions of the basketball world.
Instead, the duo that never was left unfinished business on the table. And now, there's nothing left for us to do but wonder what could have been had the Trail Blazers kept their star tandem together for longer than a blink.
Related: Damian Lillard Doesn’t Feel He Gets Enough Respect As A Shooter
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