The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Brooklyn Nets in double overtime to clinch a playoff berth on Monday night, but the victory felt very, very hollow, as Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkic suffered an absolutely devastating broken leg injury that conjured up memories of Gordon Hayward's injury on opening night last season.
We are a year-and-a-half into Hayward's recovery, and he is still not even close to 100 percent, meaning that the road that Nurkic faces will be long and hard, especially given the fact that he is nearly seven feet tall and weighs 280 pounds.
Hopefully, Nurkic is able to make it back to where he was, but we also have to address the elephant in the room: how does this affect Damian Lillard's future in Portland?
Nurkic was absolutely tremendous for the Blazers this season, averaging 15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor. His brilliance was on display during the win over the Nets, as he had racked up 32 points, 16 boards, five assists, four blocks and a couple of steals before exiting after 34 minutes.
With the Bosnian now out for the remainder of the season, Portland's hopes of making a run have taken a huge hit, meaning that Lillard and Co. may very well be headed for another first-round exit. That's something Lillard has to be growing tired of.
Remember: last year, there had been some talk that Lillard wanted out of Portland, as he met with Blazers owner Paul Allen to discuss the direction of the team twice: once in January, and once in May after club had been eliminated from the playoffs.
Now, Lillard is under contract through 2021, so it's not like he can walk any time soon, but these days, we know how things work in the NBA: stars wield a lot of power, and if they want out of their current situation, you can bet that they will find a way out of it.
Of course, Lillard has always struck most of us as different than the rest of the stars in the league. He has always been one of the “good guys”; a player who has always been down to earth and has expressed fierce loyalty to his city and his franchise.
But how much longer will Lillard's devotion to the Blazers last?
At 28 years old, Lillard is in the prime of his career and has probably peaked. Players generally don't tend to get any better after this juncture, so, generally, what you see is what you get.
So, if Lillard stays in Portland the Blazers keep getting bounced in the playoffs early, he will already be headed for a natural decline by the time he hits free agency.
If Lillard wants to win a championship and wants to be one of the top two guys on his team in doing so, he has to start contending for titles now, and Portland does not look like it can provide him with that opportunity at the current point in time.
To be fair, the Blazers do have plenty of young talent in the form of guys like Zach Collins, Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent Jr., but that trio is nothing but potential right now. Lillard likely wants guys who are established.
Could Portland swing a deal for another star to put alongside of Lillard and C.J. McCollum? Possibly, but the Blazers aren't really a marquee destination for big names, so even if Portland tries to get someone like Anthony Davis, there is no guarantee that Davis will even re-sign (and I'm someone who thinks that a package centered around McCollum could actually get a deal for Davis done in terms of trade logistics).
Think about this for a second: when was the last time the Blazers actually signed a top free agent? It's not something that even comes up in discussions very often, if at all.
Basically, if Lillard is going to win a championship in Portland, he is almost surely going to have to do so as the top dog without a whole lot of elite-level talent on the roster with him.
As awesome as Lillard is, that is not something he can do. Heck, it's not something that anyone in the NBA can do. With teams loading up on duos and trios and quintuplets of stars, just one guy is not going to cut it.
This is not to suggest that Lillard should leave Portland. Loyalty is a beautiful thing, and if Lillard wants to spend the rest of his career with the Blazers, we should all support that decision.
You just have to wonder if Lillard begins to change his mind this summer.
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