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Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard earned another trip to the NBA All-Star Game and 1st Team All-NBA honors last season. With those accolades in mind, Frank Urbina of Hoops Hype ranked the former Weber State star as the No. 4 point guard in the NBA heading into the 2018-19 season.
Urbina explained that a strong regular season probably should have placed Lillard higher on the list, but Portland’s abrupt playoff exit didn’t do the Oakland native any favors.
And then… came the playoffs, where it all fell apart for both the superstar floor general and his team. Lillard shot just 35.2 percent from the floor in the postseason, averaging a mediocre 18.5 points along the way, in what amounted to a four-game sweep at the hands of Holiday and the Pelicans.
Lillard finished the regular season averaging 26.9 points per game last year, which was a crucial part of the Blazers’ 49-33 record.
Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, and Stephen Curry were the three point guards that finished above Lillard in Urbina’s rankings. Rockets guard Chris Paul finished just behind that quartet to round out the top five.
You can read Urbina’s full point guard rankings by visiting Hoops Hype.