Damian Lillard Ranked 9th On CBS Sports’ Top 100 NBA Players List

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard ranked as the No. 9 best player in the league this season on CBS Sports’ list of the top 100 players going into the 2020-2021 season, according to Brad Botkin. Botkin praised Lillard’s amazing 2019-2020 campaign and stated that he believed the Blazers’ point guard could improve on his last season—vaulting him into MVP consideration.

To me, Lillard trails only Luka Doncic in MVP likelihood. The Blazers had a great offseason, and Lillard just continues to get better, as impossible as that seems given the heights to which he has raised his game in recent years. What he did in getting Portland into the playoffs in the bubble was beyond extraordinary. It used to be laughable to try to put any point guard in the class of Stephen Curry, but Lillard has changed that. You have to talk about him in the same conversation as the very best players in the world. To me, he should be above James Harden, but my vote was drowned out here.

Lillard is flanked by James Harden just above him at eight and Nikola Jokic right behind him at 10. Lillard landed at the No. 9 spot for the second straight year in the rankings from CBS Sports. Four other Blazers made the list: CJ McCollum at 37, Jusuf Nurkic at 50, and Robert Covington at 53.

If you would like to read more about where Lillard and the rest of the Blazers ranked on ESPN’s comparative list, you can click here.