NBA news: With long-time stars, the Blazers and Wizards must make difficult decisions.
Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal are now injured and out of uniform. Wondering their futures as their teams struggle without them and teeter on the brink of the Play-In Tournament.
And while we’re on the subject of being on the fence. How do the Blazers and Wizards feel about their franchise players?
Lillard and Beal were establishing themselves as stars a few years back. They were the faces and centrepieces of their clubs five seasons ago. Last season, Beal (31.3 ppg) and Lillard (28.8 ppg) were among the top three scorers in the NBA. And both were still capable of taking over games, were popular with fans, and were fixtures in their own communities.
But what about right now, and, more crucially, in the next months and years?
In this way, the Blazers and Wizards are dealing with the same problem. They each have a fantastic guard that is still in their prime… Neither has proved that they can make their club a title contender or that they can affect the game defensively.
NBA news: Both teams resisted the urge to deal their stars
That’s significant because both Portland and Washington have rebuilding squads that might take years to mature into consistent winners. Meanwhile, both players are due hefty contract extensions, despite the fact that their greatest years may be behind them.
Both clubs avoided the temptation to move their talents before the deadline, and there are enough signs that trading was never a possibility. There’s always the possibility that one or both of them may be relocated this summer, but such conjecture isn’t coming from Portland or Washington’s front offices.
Instead, the Blazers are almost ready to give Lillard a contract extension worth up to $50 million a season, while Beal is set to sign a long-term deal with the Wizards.
These are tricky circumstances, to say the least because no one knows for sure whether or not continuing the partnership is the best option for the club or the players. For both sides, it’s essentially a dice throw with no assurances.
Would the Blazers, for example, be better off dealing with Lillard and using the money to start a more healthy rebuilding process, following Branch Rickey’s advice that it’s better to trade a year early than a year late?
Should the Wizards sign and trade Beal, who is poised to become a free agent this summer, and use those assets to start a new era? Lillard is Mr. Blazer, perhaps more than any other player in team history outside Clyde Drexler and Bill Walton. He’s a player from Weber State, and his tale is inspirational.
