2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 19.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.2 blocks, 22.8 PER
At what point do we start putting Damian Lillard up in that category of sharp-shooting point guards that's occupied by Stephen Curry and no one else?
How about now?
See if you can guess which player is which:
Player A: 40.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc on 6.5 attempts per game
Player B: 41.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc on 7.6 attempts per game
Player A is a bit inferior, and that would be Lillard.
But still, they're at least comparable players from downtown, especially because Lillard is similarly adept—though again, not quite on the same level—at creating shots off the bounce. He and Curry are, after all, the only two players in the league hitting at least 40.5 percent of their tries and taking 6.5 deep looks per contest.
Throw in a bit of everything else and some slowly improving defense, and you have an elite point guard, even at just 24 years of age.