As Sports Illustrated continues to unveil its Top 100 NBA Players of 2016 this week, Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard makes his mark at the No. 24 position on Ben Golliver and Rob Mahoney's list. Lillard is the only Trail Blazer representative in the rankings this year as newcomer Mason Plumlee narrowly missed the cut.
Coming in at No. 24, Lillard slipped two spots from last year's rankings. Golliver cites the weight of the Trail Blazers' success being solely on the two-time All-Star's shoulders in defense of the slight fall on the list:
"The last man standing in Rip City is Damian Lillard, who becomes the face of a Blazers team that lost four starters, five of its top-six scorers, and eight of the 13 players who logged at least 500 minutes last season.