Damian Lillard's Statue Fear Is Real — And His Fantasy Value Is Slipping
Lillard's Weber State legacy lives on a horse statue, but his 42.6 FPTS/G from 2024-25 comes with a nagging downward trend for 2026-27 drafters.
Elite ceiling, but recent form dip means don't reach in drafts.
- Lillard ranks #18 overall, #9 at guard in our model
- 24.9 pts, 7.1 ast over 58 games in 2024-25
- 42.6 fantasy pts/game last season (2024-25)
- Last 5 games: -5.8 FPTS vs his season average
- His statue in Ogden is a horse — Dame fears statues
A rundown of which mid-major legend deserves a statue turned into one of the more interesting Damian Lillard footnotes we've seen in a while. In Ogden, Utah — where Lillard starred for Weber State — the guard is honored not by a bronze likeness of himself, but by a horse statue. The reason is delightfully weird: Lillard is genuinely afraid of statues. Back in his 2012 rookie year, he said historic monuments of figures like Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. give him an uneasy feeling.
That's a fun anecdote, but for fantasy managers gearing up for 2026-27 drafts, the more useful data is what Lillard did last time out. He posted 24.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists across 58 games in 2024-25, good for 42.6 fantasy points per game. Our model currently pegs him at #18 overall and #9 among guards. That's a top-tier floor for anyone building around a first- or second-round pick.
The Fantasy Fallout
Here's the wrinkle. Over his last five games in that sample, Lillard trended 5.8 fantasy points below his own season average. On its own, a five-game dip isn't a red flag — every star has cold stretches. But when you're spending a top-20 asset, you want to know the direction of travel, and right now the needle is pointing slightly down.
The good news: even with the recent slide baked in, a #9 positional rank is still elite guard production. Assist volume like his (7.1 per game) is scarce, and the scoring ceiling remains obvious. The question is whether you're paying for the peak version or the version that closed out the sample.
For draft season, treat Lillard as a WATCH. He's worth a mid-first to early-second-round pick given the #18 overall rank, but don't reach a full round early chasing the 42.6 FPTS/G upside. Let his summer news and preseason snaps confirm the form dip was noise before you lock him in as a foundational piece — and if a draftmate overvalues him, that's your cue to grab value elsewhere.
