Who is the most underrated player in today's NBA?

No matter what your answer is, Damian Lillard's name must have crossed your mind. He became the franchise player in the first season he joined the Portland Trail Blazers in 2012. When Lillard finished his rookie deal in the 2015-16 season, his average points went above 25 and stayed there ever since. He was named the All-NBA First Team in 2018 and further improved his game to approach the MVP level in the past 2019-20 season.

Portland is lucky to have Lillard. He only missed 33 games in the past eight seasons and has averaged 36.4 minutes per game. Imagine what that means to a team that selected Bill Walton, Sam Bowie, Brandon Roy and Greg Oden.

More importantly, when the joining of hands of superstars to chase a ring became so common and effective, Lillard chose to stay in Rip City. Loyalty has become such a rare quality in today's league but at least Lillard still has it for Portland.

Portland rewarded him with a super maximum deal, but nothing beats a championship for a player like Lillard. Now they have a chance to win it after years of struggling. The window is small, but it's there.

For the first time in five years, Portland's front office does not have to frown at any of the following names on their payroll: Evan Turner, $51.4 million, 2016-19; Allen Crabbe, $18.5 million, 2016-17; Meyers Leonard, $21.5 million, 2017-19; Hassan Whiteside, $27.1 million, 2019-20. One thing these guys have in common is that they don't deserve their contracts with their work on the floor.

Meanwhile, it also matters that Lillard's supermax deal will begin to take effect from summer 2021 and pay him $43.8 million, $47.3 million, $50.8 million and $54.3 million every year respectively. By the way, C.J. McCollum's salary between 2021 and 2023 will be $30.9 million, $33.3 million and $35.8 million. It's hard to make any improvements when the two best players of yours take such a big part in your team salaries every year.

Furthermore, Portland's lineup is more balanced than before. When Lillard drives in, he does not have to face three or four defenders who are comfortable leaving Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless open behind the triple line. When the game enters clutch time, the team won't have to sacrifice defense for spacing by putting everyone in front of someone bigger or faster than him.

Landing Robert Covington provides Rip City several things they need: productive 3-pointer shooting – Covington dropped 2.4 triples per game last season; quality help defense – Covington delivered 2.2 blocks per game; playing as center in a five-out squad – he did that last season for the Houston Rockets.

Derrick Jones Jr.'s arrival brings more defensive options. He can be trusted with the vanguard role to take the opponents' ace. Though Jones is not a deadly shooter, he can make other offensive contributions like backdoor give-and-go, fast break and offensive rebounding with his size and athleticism.

Though Rodney Hood incurred a torn left Achilles, Portland still gave him a two-year, $21-million contract. If he continues to shoot at 49.1 percent around the 3-point line like he did in the 21 games last season, he can be a reliable offensive choice. Defensively, though Hood is not an elite defender, he's bigger than Gary Trent Jr. and faster than Carmelo Anthony.

Getting Enes Kanter back is more like a big-man store for a rainy day in the paint, but signing Harry Giles III may equip Portland with a new defensive weapon. Jusuf Nurkic is great and he has been the pillar of the team defense. However, it's also painfully true he is a liability when the opponents' have a playmaker who shoots to kill in screen play or a big man who can score without crossing the free throw line. Neither is rare in the Western Conference.

However, Giles has good combination of both size and mobility. When he's on the court, Portland can choose a more aggressive defense of trapping the playmaker. Covington and Jones can cover rim protection for the big man.

With all this said, is Rip City good enough to contend with the Los Angeles Lakers? Unfortunately no. They are still at the same level as the Denver Nuggets and the Utah Jazz, that is if these two neighbors in the Northwest Division are not growing even stronger. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans and the Phoenix Suns are catching up fast. It's cruel but that's how wild West is.

Therefore, in the end, it all comes down to what Lillard can do. Even after people said Stephen Curry could do everything he did but better, Lillard continued to sharpen his penetration; after he was struggling in front of the trapping defense of Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis, Lillard further expanded his shooting range. As a guy who does not have the best physical condition, Lillard kept surprising the league with more new tricks. When he is going after other competitors in the West, they should watch out.