Can things get any better for Damian Lillard? He exceeded all expectations during a dynamic Rookie of the Year season, and can now add “get a giant banner of yourself” to his list of achievements. The folks at adidas honored the stalwart by throwing up this banner of the Blazers point guard on the side of the adidas North American headquarters in North Portland. It replaced a similar one of Derrick Rose. Read More »

The point guard position in the NBA has quickly become one of the most competitive spots in all of sports. There are so many good lead guards in the NBA that it’s impossible for any player at the position to take a night off.

The position has seen a major increase in talent over the past decade. It’s an ongoing trend. Ever since Chris Paul won the Rookie of the Year award in ’05-06 that teams have realized how valuable lead guards — true lead guards — really are. Read More »

The power forward position is without a doubt the most reliable position in the NBA. Most teams are going to struggle without a quality power forward to rely on when the going gets tough. When shots aren’t falling for the guards, power forwards are the guys to turn to. While centers primary focuses are rebounding and blocking shots, power forwards are relied on to do those things, and score in addition to that. Read More »

Damian Lillard accomplished almost everything as a rookie. Outside of nearly leading Portland to the playoffs — just having the Blazers in the conversation was impressive enough — Lillard led the NBA in total minutes, averaged 19 points a game, unanimously won Rookie of the Year AND made the cover of Dime Magazine. He also never hit the rookie wall, miraculously improving as the season dragged into the spring, and repeatedly held his own against some of the league’s best point guards. Read More »

Each Wednesday, we’ll be assessing how the top prospects of the 2013 NBA Draft are faring in college and overseas. Stick with us each week for assorted thoughts, including the biggest risers and fallers, the standouts, the sleepers and what we know and don’t know about the next NBA Draft class… Read More »

We received an email from the Portland Trail Blazers and the NBA earlier tonight about a news conference scheduled for Wednesday afternoon (3:30 PT) that promises a “major announcement.” Read More »

With the NBA Playoffs less than a week away, the fans of 16 teams are prepping themselves for the excitement of the second season, each team just 16 wins away from calling themselves world champions. However, there are 14 other teams that will not be able to take part in the playoffs. There is hope though, because with every new season brings another 82 games where anything can happen and any team can make the rise from bottom feeders to playoff contender. Read More »

With the NBA Playoffs quickly approaching, the chase for the Larry O’Brien is about to jump into high gear. The teams in the East are set, but they are still jostling for positioning (unless you’re the Miami Heat). In the West, seven of the eight teams are set with it coming down to the wire between the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 8 spot. The Heat have proven all year long that they are the team to beat when the second season comes around and will definitely have a very good chance of repeating as champs. Read More »

The story of last night’s Lakers/Blazers game was the overwhelming performance turned in by Kobe Bryant (We broke down his massive numbers and his incredible block). Almost matching him the entire time was was uber rookie Damian Lillard – a guy we all know truly believes he can live on Kobe’s level some day.

Lillard was a killer last night, giving L.A. 38 and just torturing Kobe on the Blazers’ offensive end. Watch Dame’s offensive highlights here: Read More »

Steve Blake offensive rebounds. Pau-to-Dwight lobs. Kobe Bryant M-V-P chants reverberating through the arena. With the way the Lakers’ 113-106 win in Portland ended, you would’ve thought all was right for L.A. They had finally held off the hot-shooting Blazers, going on a 17-2 run to start the second half and then an 8-0 run in the middle of the fourth before putting the clamps on Portland for the final five minutes. Read More »