Post by Rog on Oct 16, 2017 22:27:13 GMT
The 97th nominee for the NBN Hall of Fame, and last from the 2025 class, Damian Lillard, was a fantastic scoring point guard. After a somewhat slow start to his career, he... frankly blew the fuck up. Was his offensive prowess enough to overcome some other issues with his game? Lets take a look.
Career Stats
37.4 MPG, 27.0 PPG, 8.2 APG, 5.0 RPG, 1.4 SPG, 0.2 BPG, 2.8 TOPG on 47.5% from the field, 86.0% from the line, and 40.7% from three
Best Season
Traiblazers(2020) - 35.4 PPG, 9.7 APG, 4.7 RPG, 1.4 SPG, 0.2 BPG, 2.5 TOPG on 51.1% from the field, 87.8% from the line, and 44.2% from three
Notable Career Leaderboard Rankings
Points: 10th
Assists: 9th
Career Highs
Points: 64
Rebounds: 15
Assists: 19
Steals: 7
Blocks: 3
Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 284
Player of the Week: 12
Player of the Month: 2
Double Doubles: 436
Triple Doubles: 14
Awards
2010 - All-Rookie Second Team
2017 - All-Star Game Participant
2020 - All-League Second Team
Arguments For Induction
- Lillard was named to one All-Star game as well as one All-League Second Team. Despite the fact that he had no titles, it can't be overstated the effect he had on the Blazers. They were a downtrodden franchise until Lillard came in and helped them win 45+ games for a good period of time with his electrifying scoring abilities.
- Seriously, Lillard might be the best scoring point guard in the history of the league. His average of 27 points per game would be 3rd in the league currently in points per game for a PG, only behind John Roomsa, who is a fucking freak, and Dennis Smith Jr. who has the ultimate green light. He did all of that with his first four seasons bringing his average down pretty hard. As said before his fifth season, he was an average scorer who was ineffective and turned it over. Then in his fifth season, he had a big time TC jump, and from then on he didn't dip below 26.2 points per game his entire career forward until his second to last year, when he averaged 24.9 points per game followed by 28 per game the next year. Seven times in his 16 season career he averaged over 30 points per game, the ultimate benchmark for All-Time scoring. As mentioned above too, he finished top 10, 10th exactly, in scoring in league history. He truly was spectacular.
- While not elite, and playing shooting guard really did bring down his total numbers, Lillard was a pretty good passer as well, especially in certain years. For his career he averaged 8.2 assists per game, which isn't a very good number. But consider his first two years he didn't pass very well at all, and played two seasons at SG as well. But when he played point guard you could damn near guarantee he'd get you 9+ assists per game and three seasons he was 9.5 or better. Good passer if you ask me.
- Not an amazing defender, but consider he didn't get many steals and carried either a B+ or A- rating, I'd venture to say he was better than he was given credit for if you ask me. Also 1.4 isn't the worst you can ask from a guy, and again few seasons drag that down, he was pretty consistently over 1.5 when he got going.
- Overall, his case is based on scoring, and unlike Rudy Gay he actually was a truly elite scorer with other parts of his game helping his case as well. He was pretty automatic from the field when left open, and his career 86% free throw percentage shows a damn good free throw shooter as well. The volume this man did, to shoot 47.5/86.0/40.7 is absolutely unreal. He also was a threat for the triple double here and there, being a decent rebounder for a point guard. All put together, despite his lack of awards and titles, he has to be considered here, and his numbers paint a pretty clear picture. He is a Hall of Famer.
Arguments Against Induction
- Simple as this, he doesn't have anywhere near the awards you'd expect from a guy this supposedly good at scoring. There was a hole in his game that isn't readily apparent, well it is I'm just going to talk about it more in depth in a second, that prevented him from ever, except once, being considered a top 3 point guard at any point. Thats not a Hall of Famer.
- His biggest weakness was easily his turnovers. Its very much arguable that his turnovers were a product of the lack of offensive talent in Portland, that he had to do so much offensively and carried such a massive load, that he turned it over more than he otherwise would on a more talented team. And later in his career on better teams prove that pretty decently too. But the fact is he still averaged 2.8 for his career, and had seasons over 3. That is the line honestly, 3. And in reality its probably what kept him out of award season quite a bit as well.
- While not a true flaw, as we talked about, you can't use his defense as a pro because he didn't get any awards and was never on the Defensive lists either. And his 1.4 steals per game is paltry and something that could actively hurt a team too. Not a true negative, but no where near a positive either.
- Probably another big reason for Lillards total lack of awards is the fact that he was a bit injury prone. While not a huge issue, he did miss nearly 100 games in his 16 year career. Just tough to be a Hall of Famer when you're always nicked and bruised.
- Overall, Lillard had a fantastic career. There is just some red in his ledger that really prevents you from being able to automatically vote yes for him. His lack of titles, his eh defense, and his high turnovers all contribute to a picture that paints a guy that nearly reaches for the Hall of Fame, but honestly doesn't quite reach. And his absolute lack of awards totally kills it. I've always said, if you have to think about it the answer is no here. And so its a no here.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully.
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***
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