3 reasons the Portland Trail Blazers aren’t trading Damian Lillard

Reason #3 – Why trade a top ten player who is in their prime?

This is the biggest reason for not trading Dame. His 55-point epic in game five of the Nuggets series, showed that Dame is on a level that very few players in this league can hit.

Because we are seeing the likes of LeBron James, Chris Paul and others age out of the league in terms of superstar status, Dame is next man up in terms of the more experienced superstars in the league. He is one of a select few whose prime just began. He’s on the way up, not the way down.

With a coaching change and a slight re-tooling in the franchise, we still may not have seen his best either. A new coach may get more out of him, or if he plays to a similar level, may pair him with different guys or run slightly different offenses to enable the team to better.

There is no trade out there where you can bring back a player of Dame’s caliber. He is beloved in Portland, and he is the perfect type of player for the way the game is played these days.

Teams go decades without finding a franchise-changing player. The Blazers have one now in Lillard. There is no point blowing things up to try and get another top-ten player.

You already have the greatest Blazer of all time on the team. Unless he demands a trade, then there is no way he is going anywhere. He will be refreshed after the coaching change, and he can rip into next season with a healthy team and maybe even a chance at his first MVP award.