The Portland Trail Blazers are one of the 22 teams invited for the NBA’s restart late this month. They are also among the handful in that list who will be in an uphill battle just to qualify for the playoffs – oh and they will make that climb in the firepower-filled Western Conference.

Don’t tell that to Damian Lillard, though. He’s not bothered, and still as confident as ever. Perhaps too confident, even.

Fresh from being named the cover athlete for the NBA 2K21 game, Lillard talked to Shams Carania and The Athletic to talk basketball, including Portland’s playoff chances (via NBCSports):

“My motivation is to get in the playoffs. For one, we want to play for a chance at a championship. I think everybody’s coming back with some rust on ’em. Some teams gonna have guys that choose not to play. Some guys gonna be disinterested, wanting to go about their summer. Some guys gonna be out of shape… It’s gonna be a lot of factors that give a lot of teams a chance to actually come in here and win it … I think that’s part of my motivation, is knowing there is a legit chance… We got our starting power forward and center back. We’re a healthier team. That’s motivation.”

That statement may raise a lot of eyebrows, but such confidence and trust in your team’s abilities are always needed in sports, regardless of the type of year you or your team is having.

But, of course, yes, on one breath, one can also seriously doubt the Blazers holding a championship trophy by season’s end… or even making the postseason.

Lillard and his Blazers have mostly struggled in the 2019-20 season. They have failed to provide a follow-up to their surge in last year’s playoffs, wherein they marched to the West finals before bowing out – a franchise-best since 2000.

Prior to the hiatus, the team only mustered a 29-37 record and placed 9th in the West, 3.5 games out of the conference’s playoff picture. That’s despite Lillard pouring in career-highs 28.9 points, 7.8 assists, and 3.9 threes per game, and his backcourt mate, CJ McCollum, adding 22.5 PPG – almost a personal-best.

The duo’s supporting cast is solid on paper as well – Hassan Whiteside has put up similar numbers from his early Miami Heat days (16.3 PPG, 14.2 PPG, 3.1 BPG), and future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Carmelo Anthony is on deck as an occasional second leading scorer (15.3 PPG) – but they, too, have failed to help lift the Blazers.

Adding to the doubt is the absence of their ‘3 and D’ guy, Trevor Ariza, who has opted out of the restart to spend more time with his family. The Blazers will replace him with seldom-used, second-year guard Jaylen Adams. It’s unlikely that he’ll see significant minutes.

Seeing big men Jusuf Nurkic (fractured tibia and fibula) and Zach Collins (dislocated shoulder) return is generating intrigue, but it’s ultimately hard to expect much considering they are coming off major injuries.

REMAINING GAMES

Below are the Blazers’ eight seeding games for the restart. They have the sixth-hardest remaining schedule:

August 1 – Memphis Grizzlies
August 4 – Boston Celtics
August 6 – Houston Rockets
August 8 – Denver Nuggets
August 10 – LA Clippers
August 11 – Philadelphia 76ers
August 13 – Dallas Mavericks
August 14 – Brooklyn Nets

*bold denotes teams that have already clinched a playoff spot