Portland Trail Blazers: 3 dream sidekicks to pair with Damian Lillard

The Portland Trail Blazers would love to pair Damian Lillard with Klay Thompson

There’s a reason that Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry’s names are often brought up together. Their games are almost mirror-images. Lillard is a little rougher on the edges, more athletic, and a better playmaker. Curry on the other hand is undoubtedly the greatest shooter of all time. Dame is the only other player who approaches Curry’s ability to hit triples from any spot, any angle, and against any defense, but the gap between the two is larger than most Portland fans would like to admit.

Still, despite Curry’s brilliance, even he cannot win a championship on his own. Steph had one of the greatest offensive campaigns in league history this year, and yet the Golden State Warriors had to claw their way into the play-in tournament and ultimately missed out on the playoffs.

It would have been a different story if Steph’s brother in splash was healthy and available. Klay Thompson may be the best number two option in NBA history. His game perfectly pairs with any other superstar.

Klay might just be the biggest off-ball threat ever. For example, in 2015-2016, his last season as a true number two option, Thompson hit three catch-and-shoot threes per game at a scorching 44 percent clip. He hit wide open threes at 44 percent, over 40 percent on both open and tight triples, and an impressive 33 percent of his closely contested deep looks. Basically, if Klay decides to shoot, there’s no stopping him.

He also doesn’t need to dominate the ball in order to pour in points, as demonstrated in his 60-burger against the Indiana Pacers that he dropped in three quarters with only 11 total dribbles.

The best part of his game and is that he’s just as effective on the other end of the court as well. In his prime, he could effectively shutdown top-level players at three different positions.

If Lillard had Klay by his side, shutting down the opponent’s best perimeter player while launching bombs with Hawkeye-like accuracy, the Steph-Dame debates would be a little different. Steph would still be known as the greatest shooter of all time, but perhaps Dame would be known as the better overall player.