It seemed to the eye test like Damian Lillard lost half-a-step last season, something most evident statistically with his 3-point shooting percentage dropping to 35.4% and his true shooting percentage to .590. There were other reasons for the numbers to drop, too: Adjusting to having to play next to Giannis Antetokounmpo; having mostly played through calf, ankle, groin and Achilles soreness; and on a personal note he was going through a divorce while having to move to a new city.
Just don’t tell Lillard, age 34, that his body is starting to let him down. Here’s what Lillard said to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (behind a paywall). (Hat tip Hoop Rumors.)
“I’m not a player that’s breaking down. I live a clean, good, healthy life, so I can do it. I can do the same (expletive) I did two, three years ago. I can do it right now…
“I think when the trade happened everybody was like, ‘Well, Milwaukee’s gonna win it,’ and I think when it didn’t always look the way they wanted it to look or thought it was gonna look, and I wasn’t looking how I looked in Portland, it was like, oh, what’s going on with Dame? Why is Dame not doing this? But when for a greater part of the season I was still averaging about 26 points. Like, if you really think about that – what standard do y’all hold me to if I’m scoring 26 points and averaging seven assists and I’m not feeling great? I’m going through a lot of stuff. That’s just the truth.”
Nobody should question Lillard’s conditioning or his care for his body and game.
However, there is a long history of smaller guards falling off at about Lillard’s age, so to expect some of that is not crazy. There was an expectation that playing next to Antetokounmpo would open up the court for him. That didn’t happen consistently last season, there were multiple reasons for that, and it’s something Doc Rivers needs to correct next season.
Going into next season, my preseason rankings have the Bucks fourth in the East and as fringe contenders — if everything goes right they can compete with Boston, Philadelphia and New York at the top of the conference, but Milwaukee has no margin for error. Part of that is health, starting with Antetokounmpo — who missed all of this year’s playoffs and played in three games in the 2023 postseason — but also includes Khris Middleton (who has battled injuries as well) and Brook Lopez, who at age 36 can’t miss much time or show any drop-off.
An aging Damian Lillard is in that mix, too, the Bucks need him on the court and healthy if they are going to chase another ring.