If you read that article about Batum by Canzano this week you saw that Nic said that Brandon Roy is the best player he ever played with. That got me to thinking - Roy and Lilliard are much alike as players. Both have that killer instinct, both are clutch, both shoot great. Of course, due to size and position, they are different, but they are more alike than different I contend. So which is better? Although we saw far, far to little of Brandon, he gets my vote. He had that Je ne sais quo, that magic. Damien has some it too obviously, but different. Maybe in the end it was Roy's ability to control the pace of the game. To bend it to his style of play. And to get to the rack like no other. He played more like Jerry West than any player I have ever seen, so, as great as Damien will be, I vote Roy.
If Damien stays healthy and continues to improve it will be him by a long shot. Roy was amazing and one of the best players the Blazers have ever had but his career was to short to really hold a immovable spot in Blazer history like Wilt or Clyde.
Damian is already on his way to being better, if not already. And Aldridge is probably a little less than Roy now, also. Iso-Roy held us back, which isn't necessarily Roys fault, but Roy was rather selfish if you really look at it.
Agree. Roy had amazing games, but he was selfish and played zero defense. At least lillard tries on defense
the fact that this is even a topic seems like a win. For the record, I like Damian's chances, if for no other reason than he just has to have 3 great seasons/playoffs to overtake him. I don't know that his prime will be better than Roy's (I hope so), but he doesn't need to sustain what he's already doing much longer to be a serious conversation.
I don't think Roy was a selfish player. Iso-Roy was a function of Nate's offense. If you're referring to the Andre Miller fiasco, Roy was by far our best player at that time, and it made sense to structure the offense around him, not Miller. Besides, great isolation players like Roy, Kobe, Melo, Harden, etc. will always face this criticism, but it doesn't mean they can't win. Also, Roy's highest USG% was 27.4% on 16.9 shots per game. By contrast, Aldridge is at 28.9% this year on 20.9 shots per game.
Yup. Still, at this point, he was the better player when isolating what each of them can do individually. Until Lillard develops a game inside the 3-point arc, the nod has to go to Roy. Again, when talking about their individual skill sets. However, because of Roy's selfishness I can see an argument for Lillard being the better player for the team. As underwhelmed as I've been by Lillard this year, I think it's just a matter of time before he is unquestionably better than Roy. Heck, if we make it out of the first round that alone will push Lillard ahead.
Roy will be judged by individual accomplishments. With luck, Dame will be judged for leading the team to success. Too early to call.
LaMarcus Aldridge will be better than both at the end. Brandon never really realized his potential and never went deep in the playoffs at all. Brandon was a fan favorite and potentially a great player but he never even played in the Olympics except to work out with the practice squad. Lillard has set records that few players his age have accomplished already. I expect Lillard to surpass Roy on many levels but right now, LaMarcus is a superstar that neither of them were/(are)
DamiAn Lillard. My orthography is terrible, but it's his name. I'm with Riverman. LA is who I'm putting my money on.
It's Damian. I loved Roy but Lillard is going to be the best Blazer ever IMO. He has his flaws but you can visibly see him working on them (going to the basket and finishing) and he is doing all this while averaging 22/6/4.
Better At What? Damian is a better three point shooter now, but at this point you'd have to combine CJ and Dame together to equal Roy's pure scoring ability. But yes, in the end, I believe Damian will become better.
So far it's Roy by several miles, but he's done. He was hampered by a continuously weak-kneed roster and a coach who preferred surrounding Roy with veteran scrubs with marginal skills rather than develop some of the best young talents we've ever had. But at this point in their careers Roy is the clear winner. He pretty much carried an entire team for several years, saving the fans from much embarrassment.
I voted for Lillard. Hes not as good as Roy was in his prime yet, but longevity helps him out a ton here. Seems relatively safe to project him to be a multi-time all-star, and hes already on an elite regular season team. He only has to win one series to win more than Roy. If Roy kept playing I think he easily goes down as the better player, but he only had a few years where he was elite. Dame will likely have a 10+ year career where hes a high level PG, makes all-star teams, makes some noise in the playoffs, and ultimately he'll be remembered by the masses more than Roy.
