Damian Lillard Fantasy Outlook & Value 2019-20

After back to back embarrassing sweeps in the playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers likely needed a season where they broke through and made a deep playoff run to justify keeping their core. Thankfully, that’s exactly what they did last season, where they won two playoff series before getting swept by the Warriors in the conference finals. For Damian Lillard, it must’ve been especially validating, as back to back first round losses had people questioning and doubting his leadership ability. With the Warriors out of the way now, the west is more wide open than ever. For the Blazers, it seems their plan is to run it back and see how things go in the new west. They took the first steps towards that plan earlier this summer when they gave Lillard a 4-year max extension.

 

 

Lillard has long been one of the most explosive players in the league, and he spent the majority of the playoffs reminding people of that. His 50 point detonation capped off by his buzzer beating game winner against the Thunder felt like a culmination. He also happens to be one of the most consistent players in the league as well, as he just had his 4th consecutive season where he averaged over 25 points per game and missed less than 10 games. Durable, productive, and capable of putting up obscene stat lines any given night, Lillard will once again be one of the top-notch fantasy options in the league.

Damian Lillard Fantasy Stats

GPMPGPPGRPGAPGFG%FT%3PT%STLBLKTOFPPG
8035.525.84.66.944.491.236.91.10.42.743.7

Upside

The NBA feels as unpredictable as its ever been and right now, it feels like anything is possible. For that reason, it feels like an MVP for Damian Lillard is in the realm of possibility. He’s been a fringe candidate for several years now, so seeing him breakthrough and claim the award wouldn’t be the most surprising thing in the world. Doing so would likely require a 52 or more win season form the Blazers, and for Lillard to have a career year. In a situation where all goes right, Lillard could end up having an MVP caliber season where he ends up averaging 30 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1.5 steals.

Floor

As one of the most consistent and healthy players in the league, there’s relatively no risk in drafting Damian Lillard. Although it’s possible a freak injury can occur at any time, that’s true of any player in the league. He’s played at an All-NBA level for the past 4 years, and at 29 years of age, is in the prime of his career. It’s possible that his usage rate might shrink a little following C.J. McCollum’s breakout performance, but there’s still very little chance he doesn’t play at an all-star level. A worst-case scenario for him would still be a season where he averages 25 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal.

What to Expect

Portland Trail BlazersLillard is currently ranked as the 4th best point guard in fantasy and the 10th best player overall. He’s expected to be drafted in the late first round and has an auction value of $43. This is decent value for a player of Lillard’s caliber. It’s hard to put him in the same tier as guys like James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo, as he lacks the versatility they have, but he can still be the featured option on a well drafted team.

The Portland Trail blazers will enter this season with much higher expectations than they did last year. However, while there may not be a force as singularly dominant as the Warriors anymore, there’s a strong case to be made that the West still got better overall. The Blazers may find it might be an even tougher challenge to get out of the first round this year than it was to make the conference finals. Getting good seeding to ensure home court advantage in the playoffs feels like a must if the Blazers want to have another deep run. There’s reason to doubt the team, but I think Lillard will continue to put up elite numbers regardless of where the Blazers finish. A 26 point per game, 6 assist per game, and 4 rebound per game season seems like a reasonable prediction for Lillard.

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Despite being born in Orange County growing up as a die hard Lakers fan, his fandom is pretty diverse and extends as far as Syracuse University. Aside from sports journalism and analytics, he’s passionate about video games and critiquing movies. Eventual goals include ownership of the entire NBA and NFL.

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