Sports Illustrated’s third installment of their ninth annual “Top 100 NBA Players” sees Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard featured at no. 11. The Blazers had four players ranked from 100-51, and added a fifth player in the 50-31 ranking, before rounding out their current lineup with their sixth inclusion on the list.
Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo cites Lillard’s prolific scoring and how consistently he can play at the highest level in the league as reasons for his spot on this list.
There’s a reason Lillard has become central to the league’s grating, want-away-star discourse: he’s one of a scant few backcourt players truly dominant enough to swing the league’s balance of power.