Damian Lillard vs Kyrie Irving

[ScalsFan21]

Considering that there's no such thing as a championship team without multiple versatile stars, I'd go with Irving because he's a more talented offensive player.

Irving isn't an incredible passer, but he is serviceable and I'd focus on getting a few other nice passers and defenders for the team, so his score-first mentality wouldn't be that big of a deal.

Lillard leading his teams to the playoffs this year was very impressive, but I've still seen no evidence that he can play on an even level with other elite point guards. I haven't seen Lillard truly torch an elite defense in the playoffs yet, and I'm not sure he ever will be able to. He isn't a very good midrange shooter, and he can't create separation nearly as well as Irving. He also doesn't finish as well because his standing reach is lower and though he's got a great vertical leap, he doesn't have Irving's body control and first step.

Kyrie is nearly as good of a three point shooter, a much better midrange shooter and a way better finisher, so I'd take him, though Lillard is still a great player.

I do agree with a lot of this, particularly the bolded.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Irving. He has better midrange and better at finishing at the rim.

This. If Lillard doesn't have that long ball falling ... not near as dimensional. Even then Kyrie has a comparable long ball. And Kyrie is even a better defender IMO. Just look how Curry went off on Lillard in comparison to his match up with Irving.

[CTbasketball92]

I've believed for a long time that both Damian and Kyrie have the assassin gene. There have been games this playoff in particular where I kind of expected more from Lillard, but I do think playing next to LeBron James he would have a great opportunity to perform just as well as Irving did.

I mean if the question is "who would I rather build around" as it was said in the OP... my honest answer is Lillard just based on the fact that he's shown an ability to stay on the court. I know that can change fast (a la Russ's knee issues) and Irving has said he's made certain changes to his game to try to avoid getting injured again and choosing his spots more carefully, etc. At the end of the day I just "trust" Lillard to be there more than I trust Kyrie, and to me that's what separates two otherwise extremely comparable players.

Durability is definitely a reasonable concern. It's so concerning that I found myself thinking kyrie should skip the olympics (though that'd be silly, because he didn't even play a full season this year, and he's 24 and doesn't have recurrent injuries, and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity). Still, I don't think Lillard is capable of playing as well as Kyrie just did in the playoffs. His over-reliance on his 3 point shot would still get him into trouble, and I think Golden State, the Spurs and OKC would end up shutting him down. Funny enough, we saw a bit of what that might've looked like when we saw Curry struggle -- and curry is much craftier off the dribble. Lillard might have improved, but he was still getting locked up even when LMA was on his team. I just don't think he's a transcendent scorer, he's just a really good one. Kyrie has shown that he's as good as it gets from a skills perspective.

Imagine a team with Anthony Davis and Kyrie? Man, that'd be something.

[Uncle Drew]

I'll take the champion.

[RedBlackAttack]

I've believed for a long time that both Damian and Kyrie have the assassin gene. There have been games this playoff in particular where I kind of expected more from Lillard, but I do think playing next to LeBron James he would have a great opportunity to perform just as well as Irving did.

I mean if the question is "who would I rather build around" as it was said in the OP... my honest answer is Lillard just based on the fact that he's shown an ability to stay on the court. I know that can change fast (a la Russ's knee issues) and Irving has said he's made certain changes to his game to try to avoid getting injured again and choosing his spots more carefully, etc. At the end of the day I just "trust" Lillard to be there more than I trust Kyrie, and to me that's what separates two otherwise extremely comparable players.

Fair enough. You're certainly entitled to your own opinion and I guess the way the question is framed leaves a little room for interpretation beyond who is playing better, done more, etc.

They've had polar opposite careers to this point.

At 19, Kyrie was drafted onto one of the worst teams in the league and that team was actively trying to tank for his first three years. Kyrie has played for 4 coaches in 5 years, including his first three seasons spent under the tutelage of a combination of Byron Scott (2 years) and Mike Brown (1 year).

At 22, Lillard was drafted onto basically a ready-made playoff caliber roster with a No. 1 option beginning to assert himself and into a stable franchise.

The last couple of years, the scripts have flipped.

It was impressive that Lillard helped to lead that Blazers team to the playoffs this year without Aldridge. His performance in the postseason, however, left a lot to be desired, imo. He put up a lot of points, but on pretty terrible efficiency. The assist-to-turnover ratio also wasn't where you'd want your PG to be.

But, I give him a lot of credit for getting the team there... which most people didn't think would happen coming into this season. His durability has also been really good through his first few seasons.

IMO, Kyrie clearly separated himself as the superior player in these playoffs, but then again I've always thought he is the better player.