The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor and Chris Vernon discuss Damian Lillard and how he continues to play at a high level at this point in his career. They also talk about his potential trade to the Miami Heat.
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41 Comments
first
yes
I will be surprised if he doesn't start showing some signs of decline this year. He's 33 this month, everybody is not LeBron.
Dame will age well in the NBA. His contract might not, but he will “contribute” through the end of the deal.
Dame and his game will age well.
Dame at least has 4 good years left
Dame ls game will age well. I can legit see hime avg a high efficiency 25 for 4 more years.
His contract isn’t going to age well but I would be very surprised if his play didn’t. He isn’t going to start shooting pullup jumpers poorly tomorrow.
Maybe he drives a bit less effectively but it’s not like he isn’t also a pretty above average playmaker.
Dame is a tough case to project his aging, because he has an interesting mix of skills that won't necessarily decline with age like his shooting and handling, but he is still a shorter player who who needs his burst and athleticism to play at his best.
Lebron could be 45 and still be effective as a bully ball scorer and high IQ passer… but if Dame isn't separating from defenders, history is not on his side as an aging 6'3 guard. His development this year as a more effective off ball player is a big deal in projecting his long term outlook. Any team trading for him needs to have an immediate title window
Why isn't Herro the best player in a Dame trade? Markannen was the best player in a D.Mitchell trade & M.Bridges the best player in a Durant trade and both guys were seen as role players the way Herro is. The Miami package is actually solid, if they can flip Herro for a young big like Ayton or a young wing i don't see why the Blazers pass up on the offer.
Dude on the rt is such a clown
Even if they somehow got him they are nowhere near the level of the Celtics or Bucks. Who is playing defense on that team?
35 in the NBA is the new 30 it seems
Hard to say how long he can be elite. 63 million is going to sting at 36. Step and LeBron are bad examples. LeBron has already lost a step or two and all Steph does is take 3s coming off screens and illegal pick and he plays no defense so he isn't getting banged around like a lot of guys. When he falls off it will be dramatic. And it will be because he has no legs left. But that might not happen until he is 40 plus.
Now irs how much will Dame be high level player… these 2 idiots are Heat Haters.
Suns- A. Simons/Nukic
Blazers- Ayton, RJ Barrett, QG, Payne, Fournier, Plus picks
Knicks- Lillard
Scoot, QG, Sharpe, Grant, RJ, Ayton, Little, Thybulle, Murray Plus a bunch of picks as assets I'd be happy if I was Portland.
I think 4-5 more years and then he’ll prolly start taking a bit of a dip on production. He’s what 33 ? He can play at this level until he’s 38 I think
I think Dame goes to Miami but Portland doesn’t like the return. It will be interesting to see how they handle the Herro situation if this trade falls through.
The Pelicans got the best package. They can offer Zion.
Dame came off successful surgery on a long lasting injury and had his best year so far hell go till at least 36 37 elite level good 4 5 year run yet
Yep, gotta be 3 team trade
The Celtics definitely won’t be winning anything when the heat get dame
Remember when John Wall vs Lillard was a legitimate argument?
The last few days have not been kind to Kevin O’Connor. His persona built around smart takes or pseudo smart takes took a huge hit since he can't stop saying nonsense about Lillard in Miami.Out of pure fear that the Heat keep sending Celtics to Cancun. Guy looks lost. Not even Bill Simmons are sounding so embarassing about this.
We don't know if Dame will play at a high level during the playoffs when the pressure and spotlight is intense. Very few can.
Dame has 3 years of elite basketball imo then after that good basketball
I think he's got three really strong years left in him – needs to stay healthy obviously – but his shooting for his size is so freaking efficient, and that makes me think he'll age pretty gracefully.
Starting at 3:16 is the most mismatch clip of all time, Chris with the eye test and Kevin with the official stats.
KOC and his subscription tweets. What a knob.
Watching these clips of the pod, I can always start to hear the outro music before the video is over.
Gotta figure 2 All NBA years, 1 all star year and 1 more year of very good but not All Star level. 3-4 very effective years left.
Fam because he’s not going to Boston he’s gonna decline lmao unsubscribed
Dame is on the decline. No idea why any GM would want him.
If im the blazers im calling dames bluff and making him prove he wont play for me for at least a year. Blazers are trying to rebuild anyway and im not taking a terrible trade just because dame wants to go miami
Lauri the best player in the Mitchell trade ? Stop it lauri was a great story and mitchell sucked in the playoffs but where was lauri in the playoffs? And mitchell was clearly better in the regular season
In my opinion, Utah makes the most sense to be the third team to take Herro, Robinson, and Jovic. Portland could get Agbaji, THT, Collins, and 2 1's from Miami. That's just a guess. I may be way off.
The chemistry has been better these past two episodes. Keep it up. 👍👍
You can't be certain with potential injuries, but if LeBron can play well into his late 30s and play as physical as he does, Damian Lillard should be just fine.
Shooting ages well. Hard to imagine one of the best shooters in the league is gonna fall off when he hits 35. Dame’s style isn’t physically taxing, he’s not falling down every other play, doesn’t strain himself by trying to dribble through traps. Doesn’t drive into bigs with reckless abandon. I don’t see why he wouldn’t be productive at 36, maybe not an All-Star guy anymore due to a diminished role, but probably still a Top 10 PG in the league. Smart players age well.
Nobody says this about KD…
Pathetic how biased you are because of him wanting Miami. All these Boston hacks in media is the worst, I hope you enjoy taking sports journalism even further down the shitter. No such thing as unbiased journalism in nba media these days. If he were going to Boston you’d be making videos about how their going to win multiple championships.