NBA Rookie Draft Ranking and Fantasy Outlook: Damian Lillard
Jul 2, 2012 Point Guard Updates
The Portland Trail Blazers selected Damian Lillard with the sixth pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
Lillard’s career stats at Weber State:
104 Games, 18.6 points, 3.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals, 44.5 FG%, 86.6 FT%
Fantasy Advice: Lillard was a four year player at Weber State and he’ll be 22 in a couple of weeks, so he’s got some experience and he’ll need it since Portland will likely ask him to be a starter this season. Raymond Felton probably isn’t going to be in Portland this year, so Lillard will get his shot.
Lillard is an extremely quick PG with a solid jumpshot. My first thought when I watched his tapes was ‘man, that really looks like a skinny Chris Paul’. I’m not saying he’s that good, but his game and mechanics look a little like Paul’s. He was the second leading scorer in the nation last year with 24.5 points per game, but it was admittedly for a second tier Weber State squad in the Big Sky Conference. It remains to be seen how he’ll do when the competion picks up.
Two stats jump out for Lillard:
He attempted 7.2 threes per game last season – and he hit 40.9% of them.
He attempted 8.0 free throws per game, hitting 88.7% of them.
Basically, what we are looking at is a scorer who can do it from beyond the arc and at the rim effectively. He’s the type of fantasy point guard that helps you in just about every category and can make his own offense without depending on his teammates. He’ll have some turnover problems early in his career, but the bonus he gives you with the threes and scoring will more than make up for that. He’s a great gamble in mid to late rounds and a probably a solid middle rounder in keeper leagues.