Damian Lillard demands a trade
Lillard has said repeatedly that he wants to contend for a championship. After 11 years in Portland, he has decided he needs to move elsewhere to make that happen.
He requested a trade from the Trail Blazers on Saturday, which will put an end to his seven-year All-Star career with that organisation. Lillard’s request was later verified by the team.
“We have been clear that we want Dame here but he notified us today he wants out and he’d prefer to play someplace else,” Portland general manager Joe Cronin said in team statement Saturday. “What has not changed for us is that we’re committed to winning, and we are going to do what’s best for the team in pursuit of that goal.”
Lillard’s intrest towards other teams
According to numerous sources, Lillard is attracting interest from teams like the Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers. Lillard prefers Miami, the current Eastern Conference champion, one of the sources told The Associated Press, but there is no assurance the Trail Blazers will make that particular transfer happen.
Lillard is coming off a season in which he averaged 32.2 points for the Trail Blazers. He is a seven-time All-NBA selection and was selected to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team — but he has never been close to a title in his 11 seasons in the league.
He has met with Portland several times in the last few weeks, requesting that the squad be improved so that he can contend for a title. But it’s clear from his request for a move that Lillard’s efforts haven’t been successful.
When Lillard’s decision was revealed after the 1st day
After Portland made a big impact on the first night by supposedly keeping Jerami Grant with a $160 million, five-year contract, he made his decision public on the second day of NBA free agency.
For as great as his resume is, Lillard hasn’t enjoyed much in the way of postseason success. The Blazers have won only four playoff series in his 11 seasons, making the Western Conference Finals once during that span. Team went 33-49 this past season, the second consecutive year of finishing well outside the playoff picture.
In a Dec. 19 game in Oklahoma City, Lillard surpassed Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler to take over as the Blazers’ all-time top scorer. He is one of three players to be named to the All-NBA first team while playing with the Trail Blazers (2017–18), and he is the only player in franchise history to receive seven All-NBA honours. Lillard was the 2012–13 Kia Rookie of the Year, a seven-time All-Star, and a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.
The only glaring omission on Lillard’s resume is a championship. And now he’ll seek a move to change that. “I would say I want to be remembered for who I was, not as a player. But the principle that I stood on regardless of how successful I was, how major the failure was, the criticism, what people thought I should have did, what people think of me, no matter what was happening. I want to be remembered for who I was,” Lillard said in an interview with former teammate Evan Turner for the “Point Forward” podcast earlier this year. “I stood tall. I’ve stood tall in every situation and I want to be remembered for that.”
Lillard asks the Trail Blazers for a trade
Damian Lillard has emphasised his desire to challenge for a championship time and time again. He has determined that in order to accomplish that, he must leave Portland after 11 years there.
Lillard requested a trade from the Trail Blazers, ending his seven-year All-Star career with them, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation on Saturday.
According to the persons who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because no information was made public, Lillard will attract interest from the Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets among other teams. He prefers Miami, the current Eastern Conference champion, according to one of the sources who spoke to the AP. But it doesn’t necessarily mean the Trail Blazers will try to make that particular transfer happen.
Lillard is coming off a season in which he averaged 32.2 points for the Trail Blazers. He is a seven-time All-NBA selection and was selected to the NBA’s 75th anniversary team — but he has never been close to a title in his 11 seasons in the league.
Lillard’s resume has one omission
Lillard has met with Portland multiple times in recent weeks, asking for the roster to be upgraded to the point where he can compete for a championship. But those efforts, evidently, have not gone to Lillard’s liking and led to him asking to be moved elsewhere.
His decision was revealed on the second day of NBA free agency, after Portland made a huge splash on the first night by retaining Jerami Grant with a $160 million, five-year deal.
Despite Lillard’s impressive résumé, he hasn’t had much postseason success. In his 11 seasons, the Blazers have only won four playoff series and have advanced once to the Western Conference finals. This past season, the club finished 33-49, placing them way outside the postseason picture for the second year in a row. But Lillard is a dynamic player by any standard. In each of the previous eight seasons. He averaged at least 24 points a game, and his lifetime average of 2n5.2 points places him fourth among active players.
He has 17 games of at least 50 points in his career, two of which have come in the playoffs, scored 71 points against Houston this past season. And has won the NBA’s citizenship award. He has also previously won the rookie of the year and teammate of the year awards. He even won an Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games with Miami’s Bam Adebayo, often gushing about how much he loved playing with the Heat centre.
The only glaring omission on Lillard’s resume: a championship. And now he’ll seek a move to change that.
