Why does Damian Lillard keep getting snubbed?

Damian Lillard’s snub from this year’s All-NBA team, which was announced Thursday, was so expected that he didn’t even complain about it. In the past few seasons, Lillard grumbling about missing out on an All-Star or All-NBA team has become almost as regular as the announcements themselves. Earlier this year, he rapped about it, and two years ago, he sarcastically thanked the NBA for missing out in a deleted Instagram post.

If this was all bluster from Lillard, we wouldn’t care. But the Trail Blazers point guard just had the best season of his career. The man averaged 27 points, five rebounds, and six assists on 59 percent True Shooting Percentage, after all, and couldn’t make either awards teams.

In fact, Lillard made both the All-Star roster and the All-NBA third team in 2014, only to see just one more All-Star (2015) and All-NBA (2016) appearance follow. It’s rare you see a player make both teams, dramatically improve his stats over the following three seasons, and then get snubbed.

But that’s exactly what keeps happening to Lillard.

In the 2013-14 season, when Lillard made both teams, the guards who made the All-NBA roster included Tony Parker and Goran Dragic. You wouldn’t consider either player close to All-NBA level now, and it’s notable that players like Russell Westbrook (injured), Kyrie Irving (Cavaliers were awful), and Klay Thompson (hadn’t broke out) all were left off.

Now, the All-NBA team is so hard to crack that Stephen Curry, two-time reigning MVP, could only make it onto the second team. You could argue Curry is a better player than Westbrook and James Harden, the two who made the most recent first team, but it’s hard to say he had a better season.

This year, Isaiah Thomas, DeMar DeRozan, and John Wall all emerged as guards who demand All-NBA consideration. They snuck into the second and third team while Lillard sat home, and even Chris Paul didn’t make the cut. Every position in the league is loaded with talent, and the depth at guard on every team makes this complicated. As one-man offenses become more prevalent, this trend doesn’t seem like it will be dying.

The other undeniable thing is that All-NBA and All-Star appearances are partly determined by team success. Lillard may have averaged 27 points, but Portland struggled and barely snuck into the postseason in the final days of the regular season while the three Eastern Conference guards mentioned above were all top-four seeds.

We all know this, but it’s painfully obvious when you look at why Lillard was barely even considered for this year’s awards teams. If Portland was better around the All-Star break, maybe Lillard earns more consideration for that. If they had convincingly made the playoffs as a No. 6 seed, perhaps you could argue for Lillard surpassing, say, DeRozan.

As it is, Lillard’s lack of regular season success doesn’t earn him the pedigree that would warrant his inclusion, as good as he has been.

This season, Lillard averaged career highs in points, rebounds, and efficiency. If this isn’t good enough for even an All-Star nod, what will be?

With a better team, of course, Lillard would be earning much more attention. The knock that he doesn’t play defense still follows him, too, which is valid. That’s not an effort problem, or at least not mostly, but Lillard will likely never be a premier defender.

It’s a strange dilemma, seeing a player snubbed for the same awards he was winning several seasons ago with objectively worse statistics. But that’s Lillard, a player who sits right on the fringe of the highest tier of NBA stars. If Portland develops into a consistent postseason power and Lillard maintains his excellent play, then perhaps he can really start tallying up a few of those awards.

Right now, though, Lillard being snubbed in February or May is basically expected.