Damian Lillard's sobering lesson to Portland fans about the NBA’s continuity problem

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky.

Damian Lillard shook the NBA landscape when he officially requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers.

Lillard was on track to join legends like Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks), Tim Duncan (Spurs), John Stockton (Jazz), Reggie Miller (Pacers), Larry Bird (Celtics) and Isiah Thomas (Pistons) as one-franchise players.

It is really special to watch someone only wear one jersey during their pro career. The statue outside the arena feels so much more impactful if a player never left the city. But he still meant so much to the Trail Blazers.

Lillard is a former Rookie of the Year and seven-time All-Star who had (by far) the most year-over-year continuity of anyone on Portland’s roster. Except for Golden State’s Stephen Curry, in fact, he had spent more time with the Trail Blazers than any other player in the league had with their organization.

But now was finally a time for a change for everyone involved — and it wasn’t just in Portland.

Several other players who were previously the longest-tenured players on their respective franchises heading into last season (e.g. Miami’s Udonis Haslem, Washington’s Bradley Beal, Boston’s Marcus Smart, Cleveland’s Kevin Love, Houston’s Eric Gordon, Brooklyn’s Joe Harris, Memphis’ Dillon Brooks) have switched teams or have retired.

Lillard and Beal (both drafted in 2012) had only ever played for the team that drafted them. Now, the longest-tenured player replacing Beal in Washington is Deni Avdija — drafted in 2020.

Assuming that Portland moves on from Jusuf Nurkic and now with an uncertain future for Anfernee Simons, the Trail Blazers roster may initially feel unfamiliar for casual fans. Lillard played more than a decade for the Trail Blazers.

Quite a bit has changed for everyone, including Lillard, since 2012.

Superstars are a funny way to measure the passing of time, though it is not uncommon. I grew up in Los Angeles, which is a basketball city where it was fairly regular for a player to spend his entire career playing for one team.

Generations before my own had Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper and James Worthy earn the designation of lifelong Lakers. If you are around my age, meanwhile, then you saw Kobe Bryant play for two decades in Los Angeles.

But after spending 20 years watching Kobe play for the Lakers, the longest-tenured player in Los Angeles is now LeBron James — who signed with the team in 2018. That ain’t two decades.

The uncomfortable reality, however, is that continuity is actually abnormal in the NBA.

Unless a player is winning multiple championships for their franchise (like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Curry have done for the Warriors), they’re likely going to move on to find a new home eventually. That’s just the sobering reality.

Quick Hits: Taylor Swift was interrupted by baseball … Rickie Fowler is back on top … and more.

— A bunch of Reds victory fireworks hilariously interrupted Taylor Swift’s Friday show in Cincinnati

— Rickie Fowler struck the coolest pose to celebrate his first win in 1,610 days

— Projected rotation for the Lakers with Gabe Vincent after surprising free agency signing

— The winners (Lakers) and losers (what in the world are the Rockets doing?) of NBA free agency