Blazers All-Star Considered Hall of Fame 'Lock'

To hear one insider tell it, the Portland Trail Blazers have acquired a future Hall of Famer this summer.

With this year's Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame weekend upon us, many NBA pundits are wondering who's up next.

Leading the 2025 class is a beloved former Trail Blazers role player, 10-time All-Star combo forward Carmelo Anthony — although his best years were spent elsewhere, on the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks.

A former Trail Blazers teammate of Anthony's is considered a sure-fire next-gen Hall of Famer... whenever he does hang up his Adidas.

Portland Living Legend a 'Lock' for Hall of Fame?

In a tiered list of technically active NBA players with a conceivable shot at making the Hall of Fame, Zach Kram of ESPN ranks nine-time All-Star point guard Damian Lillard among his 10 "NBA 75th Anniversary Locks," the contemporary players who were also named to the league's 75th Anniversary Team during the 2021-22 season.

Beyond Lillard, that 75th Anniversary Team group's active players comprise nine-time All-NBA Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, 11-time All-NBA Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, 10-time All-Star Dallas Mavericks power forward/center Anthony Davis, 15-time All-Star Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, 11-time All-Star L.A. Clippers point guard James Harden, 21-time All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers power forward LeBron James, six-time All-NBA L.A. Clippers small forward Kawhi Leonard, 12-time All-Star Clippers point guard Chris Paul, and nine-time All-Star free agent point guard Russell Westbrook.

"This first group of future Hall of Famers made the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team in 2021, and if they're among the 75 best players ever, then they're guaranteed first-ballot inductees," Kram writes. "We don't need to spend any more time explaining why these living legends will be honored in Springfield one day."

Lillard is going to be a bit less than "active" this season, as he's still on the mend from an Achilles tendon rupture incurred in the first round of the playoffs — while he was on the Bucks — and could miss most or all of the year. He signed a three-year, $41.6 million deal to return to Portland after two years in Milwaukee.

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