Recap of the Damian Lillard Era (2012-2023): What Went Wrong?

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[@natedogg890]

It's pretty simple, after Aldridge left Dame never played with another All Star again

[@amanuelboy1272]

CJ

[@natedogg890]

@@amanuelboy1272 He's never once been on an All Star team, sorry bud

[@Jkev24]

​@@natedogg890yeah, but that's just due to the guard position being stacked in the West. Dame wasn't even making some allstar teams due to the log jam in the West.

[@icedawaaave3858]

@@Jkev24this is why context is important. Dame has only missed the all star team 4 times. 1 was rookie year 1 was due to injury 2 were due to “stacked guard position” He has already proven who he is & is known as a “perennial all star”. Him missing it twice doesn’t invalidate him being an all star. CJ mccollum has not made the all star team once, therefore, he is not & never has been an “all star”. That’s an objective fact. Therefore, dame has not played with an other all star since Aldridge

[@rackcity9992]

@@icedawaaave3858i feel ur really undercutting cj. there were series in the playoffs we cj outplayed dame by a lot. obviously he want as good as steph,cp3,russell westbrook,harden, mitch etc etc,but to act like he was a glorified role player is crazy. he was definitely an all star worthy.

[@gavinbroome7701]

Do not forget, when Paul George was available for trade the trailblazers didn’t trade for him because lillard wanted to keep McCollum and nurk

[@Smokey-45-]

When you're a GM it's up to you to make tough decisions, the star player shouldn't always get the final decision

[@jaredramirez9935]

@@Smokey-45-that may be true, but come on Copernicus, the star of the team always has a good say in what they want in the end

[@Smokey-45-]

@@jaredramirez9935 yeah but GM's have all the power and the blame is on the front office not the star for making the right moves. An example is the mason plumlee trade which got them nurk in which Dame really wanted them to keep plumlee but the front office made the right move

[@futurehofer1564]

@@Smokey-45- as if making your star player happy isnt weighing on your final decision, get a grip on reality

[@Smokey-45-]

@@futurehofer1564 you get a grip on reality don't make excuses for an incompetent front office, the problem is people make it seem like the power is not in their hands but good front offices make decisions for improving the team rather than appeasing the star

[@slimmachado5405]

MDJ is literally the only basketball content I watch nowadays. Glad you’re back.

[@Mike-Talks-Sports]

To me Aldridge leaving Portland was the turning point for the worse in the Dame Portland era

[@Jkev24]

Yeah, they never were able to replace him. Sucks because I feel like Portland could have made noise the year they made it to the wcf if Aldridge was there.

[@Mike-Talks-Sports]

@@Jkev24 I agree I was bummed when he left for the Spurs

[@ManWamCam]

Side note, but loving that your back MDJ! The swash-buckling music was a nice touch lol

[@turbotoby95]

Definitely make more of these retrospective videos, MDJ. Great to have you back uploading here.

[@Thugg12]

Love that you’re back used to watch your videos a couple years ago

[@cobypieros4960]

Love having you back Mark!

[@jamesb724]

Thanks, enjoyed the recap. Hope to see more vids like this, the lob city clippers sounds great!

[@bananajuice3143]

Yooo I didn’t even realize you were back!!! We love to see it

[@DracoBigD]

Plz consider doing a video on the championship raptors! 🙏

[@MillerLMichael]

The Pacers from 2013-2023 would be a good video. The era PG broke out. The series against the heat. The trade for VO and Sabonis (which lead to the Halliburton trade).

[@butchwilliams8622]

MDJ I'm glad u back man 😊

[@jpool710]

Great insight as usual 👏

[@fabiofranco9225]

U came back!!! I knew u would!!!

[@genesisnineteen9579]

Plz do more! I just got into basketball seriously this season and I’m hooked man, need some history lessons lol.

[@bmillz6243]

You returning to NBA KZbin brings me so much joy

[@TTAAllDay]

Amazing video once again 🙌🏾

[@gagehoneysette]

I've been subbed to you for a long time but just recently rediscovered your channel. Great video, would love to see a similar one on the Clippers or the Marc Gasol era Grizzlies

[@SayjbeeMOB21]

Great work sir

[@urmanascrewed]

Awesome vid!

[@mickyickysticky4730]

Johnny I hardly knew ya in the background goes so hard. 10/10 background music

[@maximusorbis2548]

Thank you for keeping it real about the blazers doing what’s best for their organization instead of appealing to their star

[@ryan5752]

Finally its hereeee. The Ad style breakdown lets gooo

[@AbuelaCopyrightEdits]

do more of these!

[@ManaTeal47]

My suggestion: The Sacramento Kings' playoff appearance drought. 2006-07 through 2021-22

[@andrewcbelton]

Great summary

[@HyperAB]

that 2015 roster is the biggest what if man... that roster was the MOST complete roster we ever had around Dame and man... we really thought we had a chance to win it all in PDX

[@Davivd2]

I'll also throw in that they let Hassan Whiteside walk. He put up 13 rebounds and lead the league in blocks his last year. He rotted away on Sacramento's bench for the league minimum the next season. They also didn't hold on to Robert Covington. Both of those guys were defensive game changers and the Blazers were horrible on defense that next season.

[@futurehofer1564]

where is Hassan now? That wasnt a bad move at all, the Powell/RoCo trade was awful tho, Josh Hart trade was also pretty bad but I guess cap space or something lol

[@JohnnyMaiaaa]

hassan was lazy asf boy lol

[@PuchuKt]

Didnt know you were back until just now

[@spurguvitunhuora9119]

When Blazers reached conference finals, I felt is was much worse than ending as a lottery team. Now the owners misunderstand this overachievment and think this teams ceiling is higher than it is. => Not much changes and Lillard will spend more years not contending.

[@ThatLampTho]

Kinda gives the same vibes as the hawks getting to the conference finals. Suddenly drastic move after drastic move

[@rajaalahmar4371]

A video about the raptors before 2019 would be nice tbh

[@alwaysbones1922]

Speaking of this theme I wouldn’t mind seeing a video on how the Cavs failed to build around Lebron during his first contract with them (before heat) the amount of screw ups and bad decisions and they still almost won a championship

[@danielr1rj]

hey可以做個雷霆三少時代的回顧影片嗎? love ur work. Keep it up👍

[@sherijms4]

Hey MDJ, great video. Sparked a question that maybe you could answer in a future video I’m a fan of Trae Young and I sort of view him as the modern day Damian Lillard in the sense that he’s a prolific star who has the keys to the future of the Hawks. My question is; what is the truth behind this negative conception about Trae in relation to the media? From being traded for Luka Doncic on draft night, to being an apparent “coach killer”, to his villain arc when playing Miami and New York. He’s been snubbed from two all star appearances where he arguably should have been a lock both years. Just this season we witnessed multiple reports about Atlanta’s willingness to move forward with Trae in supposed trade speculation during the day of an important playoff game. In conclusion, is there any merit to the negativity behind Trae’s image? I personally would love to see him pull the ultimate underdog story and win a championship in market that’s had a drought for decades and prove not every #1 has to be a Giannis / Jokic / LeBron type. So in addition can the Hawks realistically win a title with Trae Young as the franchise leader? Thanks,

[@skinneybob4984]

Do this for the James Harden era rockets pls

[@BenEnlet29]

2014-2015 offseason was probably the biggest blow the blazers took. I firmly believe had that young core stayed together for a few more years the blazers could have made a serious playoff push

[@lio0041]

Recap of the greatest show on court Sacramento kings

[@natefromdah]

Do a TMac and Yao Ming era

[@juanponceneyra6780]

A video like this of the ❤️Grit&Grind Grizzlies❤️ would be awesome. Greetings from Argentina

[@codyssmith73]

The biggest issue nobody brings up with Portland was their inability to develop prospects & ownership’s refusal to create a G-League club until this upcoming season! They also traded away a lot of draftees for no real reason like Isaiah Stewart & RHJ. Imagine if they had given Swanigan & Collins reps on a G-League club to work on & improve their games instead of riding Stott’s bench.

[@NoahYamashiro]

Portland was a lottery team the year we took Lillard, but we actually got the 6th pick via a trade with the nets where we gave up Gerald Wallace. So while we did have bad luck with some of the decisions we made, we were incredibly lucky to even have Lillard here.

[@fox9769]

I don’t think Lebron, Curry, KD, Jokic or anybody else could have won a championship with that supporting cast.

[@HarriisMo]

make one on the lob city clippers!

[@futurehofer1564]

I am just gonna say this: their deepest playoff run was led by CJ McCollum

[@giannisorfanidis6904]

The loyalty went wrong.

[@MarcusHansen276]

If you could do the DRose Bulls that would be awesome

[@BlahblAHbLaH-1_]

what song is that in the background

[@Jz115zombies]

Crab 75 mil 😂 he wouldn’t even get that now lol

[@jonasbrown1]

sad to see him leave but i really wanna see him win one man. he deserves it after what he gave us

[@hoops_galorepdx1742]

i still look at the team they “could” of built.. an sounds like they tried adding an og anunoby or pascal siakam would have been realistic major upgrades to the team and reminds me of 18-19 szn when they aminu/harkless who were keye pieces for the blazers deep playoff run.. grant/siakam would do wonders next to dame.. but that’ll be another what if in blazers history.. we are in the scooter era

[@kimcheemonsta]

Everyone points at Portland for the failure but people need to look at Dame too. He’s a small point guard who plays zero defense. Looking at the history of teams that have won championships. Small pgs do not impact the game like centers or wings

[@Shiljamannn]

Nothing went wrong, Lillard isn't a franchise player that can carry a team. He is like Carmelo Anthony in that regard... Great scorer, parenial all star but not good enough.

[@antinapay]

What went wrong? He reached the wcf, multiple playoff runs and allstar appearances. Not everyone gets to be a champion, he is not the main protagonist of the nba, with supporting bit players around him.

[@buenvidanadz1969]

I think you didn't put emphasis on Nurkic obliterating his leg enough, the guy back then was still relatively young and just kept getting better, and definitely was their 3rd best player.

[@joaolucasangelotto1098]

Never forget in 2019 CJ was Portland’s best playoff performer in 2 out of their 3 seasons and if Dame showed up vs the KDless Warriors they actually had a shot at the NBA finals, but he got owned by Steph

[@cosmic738]

yo

[@shaqcafeteria]

do the boogie cousins kings

[@Hoops_Fan]

Hey Mark, wonder what you thought of Bill Simmons claiming Lillard is the third best Blazer of all time. He put Bill Walton at number one and Clyde Drexler at two.

[@jayswipedit]

Please do a bulls video🤝🏽

[@thenotoriousdig610]

This couldve been a five second video only saying "the 2016 offseason"

[@bepatientIhaveautism]

Simple, you can't build a contender around a small guy (except steph)

[@ThatLampTho]

It wasn't a failure but a step to success 😆 really sad he hasn't gotten a chip yet but he gave a lot of insane years hopefully things go well for both parties I like how the keyboard in the background was just chilling with his neck pillow 😂

[@ANGELOFDARKification]

Blazers have never been decisive enough. They should have split CJ and Dame a long time ago to get a complimentary star who was preferably a wing/big. Since 2019, they should have traded Dame but it seems like they wanted to tank to get picks. They probably told Dame they would trade the picks to get players to win now, then decided to instead rebuild with Scoot and Sharpe. Lillard might be overdoing it with only wanting Miami but Portland's FO has done plenty wrong too.

[@Dtown1996]

Passing on Kevin Durant hurt

[@Jkev24]

Definitely. I think though if Oden was healthy it wouldn't have been that big of a blunder. Probably would have been similar to Houston drafting Hakeem over MJ.

[@chaike9001]

Easy; terrible coaches, iso ball, one dimensional offense, no ball movement. Talent was there.

[@camhd9754]

BRO WHAT??? When did you come back???????

[@DC-kl8tk]

The draft picked used to pick Lillard came fron the Nets in the Gerald wallance trade. So it wasn't cause they were bad but that the Nets were

[@fica1137]

"What went wrong?" He plays in Portland

[@tonyrobinson8160]

You HAVE to mention Neil Olshey's absolute failure in the 2017 draft. 3 picks with Donovan Mitchell, Bam, OG, Kuzma, J Allen and others on the board and they ended up with NOTHING! I said that draft would set the team back a decade and that's turning out to be true.

[@owengray4676]

They got the dame pick from Brooklyn and used there own on meyers leanord

[@justtimes9257]

the blazers missed there chance for trading for jimmy butler in 2017 edit: they should have kept nicolas batum so they could of have a frount court of butler, batum, & nurkic

[@sadp9013]

When they got cj and dame i dont get why they did not get 3 good defender for the starting 5 and one over all good 6 man and that it roll with that maybe one years get you a ring or couple final apperence. But over all would have make more sense

[@liambailey1239]

Just do one on the bad luck of Chris Pauls whole career if you're going to do the clippers. would be a great video.

[@juliusperseus8612]

What Went Wrong ? *Steph Said : NOPE !*

[@hopoff9968]

Lillard played himself honestly, should've demanded a trade like 3 years ago.

[@jvostudio]

Most of their playoff losses are against soon to be champions

[@mejorymer9231]

What went wrong? The media overhyped Dame as a SUPERSTAR, which he has never been, he is a star player and extremely talented. Superstars are MJ, Dirk, Duncan, Magic and Bird. Those guys dominated at the highest levels. In Dame's Era in the west, it would be Kobe, Harden😩, Steph, Kwahi, and Dwight Howard at center. There might be a better center than Howard during Dame's prime but i can't think of one currently.

[@marcelmarshall4240]

You spoke the truth. He is EXTREMELY overrated. Top 75? That was a joke. As you stated, he is a very good player..but just that..very good. Not great. I am glad someone sees that the media tries to force a large number of players down our throats as ‘great’, when they are not. Dame is at the top of that list.

[@lorddevil863]

As a Warriors fan, I want to apologize to Lillard and the Trailblazers.

[@GoodCriticBadCritic]

Please choose different music for your next video. Great video but it became hard to listen to after a few minutes.

[@storiesofyonko]

I know what happened a glorified 2nd option was the “leader” of the Blazers & shot 40% or under for almost half his playoff career, some of those series CJ bailed him out so he had help he just wasn’t the guy it’s simple.

[@rajaalahmar4371]

Suns after Nash left maybe?

[@Odysseus1999]

What went wrong? Lillard got no help and he needed a bigger starting SG.

[@marcelmarshall4240]

Lillard is overrated. Extremely. He is a very good player, but not great. That is the issue. He is nothing but a scorer..and not of the caliber of Kobe, MJ, Tmac, Steph, Iverson, Prime Harden, etc. He is just a very good player hyped as a superstar when he is not. At all.

[@philliprhinehardt6268]

Portland was signing bad contracts.

[@SonnyK248]

Nothing went wrong did it? It went pretty good. Portland are a small market team and Dame at his absolute peak was somewhere between the fifth and tenth best player in the league. What did people expect? This is not Lebron in Cleveland or Luka on The Mavs. Did people really expect a title in Portland with Dame? He played in the Lebron, KD, Kawhi, Curry, Giannis era and to a lesser extent the Harden, Russ, CP3 era. Dame wasn't entitled to anything 🤷‍♂

[@jonathangasana]

Looking forward to this. I wonder how the Lillard era will be remembered by fans.

[@PhillyReese215]

Do one on james harden losing over 200 million because he can't stay on one team.

[@markensonlouis21]

Im going to keep saying this Damian Lillard sold Portland not the other way around

[@rayquaza1245]

I don't think anything went wrong. Sure the Blazers didn't do a great job putting themselves in an ideal situation with Dame, but you can't say they blew it or something like that either. At the end of the day they were a perennial playoff team with many deep postseason runs during Dame's era, which is a very successful run by most standards. They didn't ever have a championship caliber squad, but at the same time Dame isn't a championship caliber superstar like Curry/Lebron/Giannis/Jokic. Right now the view on this era is pretty negative because of how it ended without ever winning, but in due time people will view it much more positively.

[@daviddoran7705]

Golden State happened.

[@barcalona55]

Same with 95% of other superstars. They need another one to win. ie lebron. But Dirk didn’t need another superstar. Dirk > LeCryBaby.

[@mareklame8589]

he's too short, and too selfish.

[@Iskdnfjdjs]

Could have done without having to listen to Johnny Comes Marching Home for 9 minutes

[@mickyickysticky4730]

L

[@AirRusher1992]

The answer as to why the Damian Lillard era in Portland has been a disappointment is because of the fact that they couldn't build a winner around him simply because they can't afford to go over the luxury tax by virtue of them being a small market team.

[@willemdaho3]

Can we just say both Dame and the portland FO are in the wrong. Portland FO never put a legitmate contender around Dame for years. That's the FO fault. Dame kept taking the extenstions in hopes of them improving the roster. That was Dame's fault. After getting swept by the Pelicans without Boogie, the two sides should've seen the writing on the wall then. But instead of that, we got a trade request that came too late that it makes Dame look bad because he's requesting to go to a specific team. All of this negoatiating and standstill wouldn't have happened if Dame just copied Beal's trade. He got the bag from Washington, also renegotiated his contract so he could get the NO-Trade clause, then a year after signing that deal he forced his way to a contending team. Since Dame doesn't have leverage he needs to accept the fact that he might get delt to a team not named Miami. Again, all of this could've gone smoothly if it weren't for the logistics, and the FO and Dame being too stubborned to accept change

[@reallydoe2052]

Ugh😊