Damian Lillard is still a player for the Portland Trail Blazers. The franchise has still not met the trade demand of its playmaker, who would probably prefer to play for the Miami Heat. All developments can be found here in the live blog.
This article will be continually updated!
Damian Lillard: Does he have to keep playing for Portland?
If there is no Lillard trade by the start of the season, Lillard will probably have to continue playing for the Blazers. This is now anchored in the NBA’s new protection rules. According to the new rules, Lillard counts as a “star” and is not allowed to sit out games at will.
“If Portland and Lillard agree to bench Dame, the NBA will step up and say they’re going to punish Portland and significantly,” said Bobby Marks (ESPN). “We’ll see what happens, but the days of simply dismissing players involved in trade talks are over.”
Damian Lillard: Adam Silver talks trade demands
Adam Silver, the league’s commissioner, once again gave a press conference and also addressed the outstanding trade demands from Lillard and James Harden. “Of course I don’t like it,” Silver stated. “We want players and teams to respect their contracts. I’m looking at this closely and hope that all parties can find a satisfactory solution before the start of the season.”
Silver also emphasized that he was glad that fewer of the internal discussions had become public in recent weeks.
Damian Lillard probably no longer rules out other teams
There has been a lot of talk about Lillard wanting to play exclusively for the Miami Heat. Shams Charania (The Athletic) recently reported that Lillard would only appear in Portland or Miami for the start of training. “If a team like Toronto traded for Damian Lillard, I don’t think he would show up there,” Charania said.
“So if he were to go to Toronto, his trade demand wouldn’t change.” According to Aaron Fentress (Oregonian), that’s only partially true, as Lillard stated that he would appear with any team the Blazers traded him to.
At the end of July, the NBA issued a warning to Lillard’s agent Aaron Goodwin after he suggested that the point guard might not be fully committed if a team other than Miami traded for Lillard.
Damian Lillard: What happened?
On July 1, Blazers GM Joe Cronin confirmed that Lillard had requested a trade. So after eleven years, the signs point to departure for Lillard, who is now the best scorer in Blazers history. However, it doesn’t look like Portland wants to let Lillard go just like that.
“We want to continue to be successful,” Portland GM Joe Cronin announced in a statement following Lillard’s trade demand. “We will try to make the best of the situation so that we can continue to pursue this goal.” The guard’s desired destination is reportedly Miami, but the Blazers are not said to be particularly impressed by the Heat’s offer.
At least a third team will reportedly be needed to make a trade happen. The background is that the Blazers have no interest in Tyler Herro, who is probably the Heat’s best asset. The Brooklyn Nets have repeatedly been brought up as a possible third team.
In addition to the Heat, Chris Haynes (Bleacher Report) also mentioned the LA Clippers and the Boston Celtics as possible buyers, but Lillard is said to have no interest in these teams. Lillard’s agent Aaron Goodwin is said to have made this clear to all possible interested franchises and allegedly threatened that the Blazers star would not be fully committed if he was traded to another team.
These reports displeased the NBA, which then sent a memo to all teams and also patted Goodwin and Lillard on the hands. “We have advised Goodwin and Lillard that future such comments, public or private, will result in penalties.
Still, the Heat remain the clear favorite in a Lillard trade. According to Shams Charania (The Athletic), Miami is working on a deal that would give Portland three to four first-round picks as well as a young player (Jaime Jaquez Jr or Nikola Jovic) and ship Herro to a third team. Furthermore, second-round picks and pick swaps could be involved.
Damian Lillard: An overview of his contract
What makes a Lillard trade so complicated, aside from the fact that the All-Star reportedly only wants to play for Miami, is his contract. Not only will the 33-year-old earn a whopping $45.6 million in the coming season, but he also has a follow-up contract in his pocket from 2025. After that, Lillard will earn over $120 million for two years, with a player option worth approximately $63 million for the 2026/27 season.
* Player option
Damian Lillard: The best Blazer of all time?
Lillard was an All-Star seven times in his eleven years in Portland, and the guard led the team to the Conference Finals at least once. In contrast to Bill Walton or, to some extent, Clyde Drexler, the team did not have success, but individually no Blazers was as consistent for as long as Lillard.
With 769 games, the development player is in third place behind Drexler (867) and Jerome Kersey (831). In terms of points, Lillard overtook Drexler last year and now has 19,376 points for the franchise. When it comes to assists, only Terry Porter (5,319) has more than Dame DOLLA (5,151).
Over his career, Lillard averaged 25.2 points and 6.7 assists in 36.3 minutes for the Blazers while shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from the three-point line.
Damian Lillard: His stats in the NBA
2023-09-15 04:05:00
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