Once again out in the first round, the Blazers are at a crossroads. The upcoming offseason may well define the franchise’s long-term future. Among the files to follow, there is especially that of Damian Lillard, on which the leaders made a big decision.
Like every year, Damian Lillard and Portland arrived in the playoffs with high hopes, and like (almost) every year, the Blazers quickly became disillusioned, despite titanic performances from their playmaker. This time, it’s Denver who knocked out the Oregon franchise after six hard-fought games.
Now, it is a question of preparing for the summer of 2021, in order to strengthen the workforce. At the same time, the leaders must decide if they want to keep Lillard, or allow him to go get his ring elsewhere after eight years of loyal service. And unsurprisingly, Neil Olshey leaned towards the first option:
We have 80% of our five incumbent under contract and coming back absolutely. We will continue to try to grow and build strengths so that if an opportunity arises where a player is in the market and available and is hesitant about where to go, we can compete in terms of the strengths we can deliver for the attract to Portland.
With this release, the GM of Rip City therefore confirms that trading the No. 0 is not part of the franchise’s plans, nor for Jusuf Nurkic, CJ McCollum and Robert Convington. The only question would therefore concern Norman Powell, free agent this summer and who could find a better situation elsewhere.
However, this wouldn’t be the first time a leader has made such statements, only to act in the opposite way a few days later. This is all the more the case when your franchise player is not at all happy with the workforce around him ! Lillard may be excessively loyal to Portland, it would hardly be surprising if he ended up breaking down.
We must therefore expect to see a lot of rumors arise around Dame DOLLA in the weeks to come. His situation is reminiscent of that of a Russell Westbrook when Oklahoma City sent it to Houston. Ironically enough, it was a Lillard game winner who ultimately precipitated the Brodie’s departure. Are we witnessing a return of karma?
Neil Olshey, Damian Lillard should therefore be a Blazer in 2021-22. But anything can go fast in the NBA, and the GM knows it. The upcoming offseason could therefore be very interesting to watch in Oregon.
