There’s no doubt that the Portland Trail Blazers have a championship-level number one option in their All-NBA point guard, Damian Lillard. As we’ve seen throughout the years though, the new age league demands at least one other superstar in order to take home the Larry O’Brien.
We’ve seen these pairings hoisting the trophy every year for nearly two decades now, outside of the Dirk Nowitzki-led 2011 Dallas Mavericks. Aside from Dirk, we’ve seen at least two all-stars team up to win it all each season since the 2004 Detroit Pistons were crowned for their incredible depth, teamplay, and defense.
It’s proven that it’s easier to build a top-loaded team with two all-world players than it is to build a complete team talented enough throughout the roster to compete against two or three all-stars.
Who would be the best All-Star pairing for Damian Lillar?
The Portland Trail Blazers have believed for a long time that they had a star-level pairing good enough to get them to the pinnacle. Unfortunately, with each passing postseason exit, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that CJ McCollum is not good enough as a second-option to lift the Blazers over the crop.
It’ll be interesting to see if general manager Neil Olshey has realized this fact by now. If so, he has two choices: land a new co-star for Dame good enough to compete for a title or surround Dame and CJ with a team balanced and skilled enough to beat teams that have more top-end talent.
If he were to go with the primary option, he has to choose the correct co-star. Even if they’re loaded with talent, if their strengths don’t align with Dame’s, then it could be for naught.
This will not be a trade or free agency article. The best possible players to pair with Dame may be unattainable in every way, but nonetheless it’s important to determine the type of player that would be best suited to be the Robin to Damian’s Batman.
Here are the three best possible players to be Lillard’s sidekick.