Damian Lillard Comments on Blazers After Loss vs. Warriors

The 2016-17 season hasn't gone according to plan for the Portland Trail Blazers, and they reached a new low Saturday night, losing 135-90 to the Golden State Warriors.

After the game, point guard Damian Lillard didn't hold back with his criticism of the team's overall performance.

"Man, it's OK to turn the ball over, it's OK to make mistakes, but we have to play with some damn heart and compete out there," he said, per ESPN.com's Chris Haynes.

Lillard placed the blame on himself and his teammates rather than the coaching staff: "This isn't about what the coaches are doing, this is on us. We have to take responsibility for what's going on. This s--t is ridiculous. We've got the talent; we've just got to put it together consistently."

The Trail Blazers exceeded expectations in 2015-16, securing the fifth seed in the Western Conference and upsetting the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round.

Buoyed by last season's success, Portland went on a spending spree, re-signing Allen Crabbe, Moe Harkless and C.J. McCollum to lucrative extensions and paying top dollar for Evan Turner and Festus Ezeli in free agency. The Blazers went from 27th in team payroll ($66,562,366) in 2015-16 to third in 2016-17 ($113,260,408), per Spotrac.

McCollum's four-year, $106 million deal doesn't even kick in until 2017-18, either.

Despite their personnel additions, the Blazers are 13-16 and eighth in the West.

The Turner signing has been a disaster. According to NBA.com, Portland has a minus-11.3 net rating when he's on the court. Ezeli, meanwhile, may not even see the court this year, with The Vertical's Shams Charania reporting Saturday the big man may undergo season-ending surgery.

In October, ESPN.com's Marc Stein wrote that some NBA executives thought Portland's busy offseason was in part about acquiring assets who could be packaged for a big trade down the line. The Oregonian's Mike Richman argued Thursday the trade market may not be fertile ground for the Blazers, even if they have roster flexibility.

Andrew Bogut, Greg Monroe and Nikola Vucevic would all come with big question marks, and the same goes for DeMarcus Cousins—assuming the Blazers could convince the Sacramento Kings to trade him.

Until Portland finds some help in the frontcourt, the team's issues are unlikely to subside, even if its effort level improves following Saturday's heavy defeat.