Portland general manager Joe Cronin said in a statement Saturday: "We have always been clear that we want Damian to stay here, but he informed us today that he wants to leave and he would prefer to play elsewhere." "What hasn't changed for us is that we're committed to winning games and we're going to do it for the team in pursuit of that goal
The Miami Heat, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers are three teams interested in trading Lillard. Lillard is more inclined to be traded to the Heat. Lillard also has a lot of respect for the San Antonio Spurs.
Cronin is looking for a star-studded return for Lillard, while the general manager plans to look for one outside of the Heat. The Trail Blazers will value deals that bring them young players and draft assets.
Lillard had considered a trade when he met with the Blazers and Cronin on Monday, but he wanted to give them every opportunity to improve his roster as free market opened, so he was as silent and supportive as possible this week. On Friday night, he decided to ask for a deal.
Lillard was selected with the 6th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and stayed by his team's side for two seasons without making the playoffs in eight straight seasons. But after the Blazers opted to sign guard Scout Henderson with their No. 3 pick in last month's draft, the team's future direction became clear. Lillard's heart also began to change.
Lillard, who turns 33 on July 15, played a career-best season last season, averaging 32.2 points and 7.3 assists per game, and scored 71 points against the Houston Rockets on Feb. 26.
The so-called "one man, one city" is just full of accidental encounters, just like Duncan back then, if not for the support of David Robinson when he entered the Spurs, if they didn't win the championship, if it weren't for the addition of Parker and Ginobili later, if they didn't win the championship again, if it wasn't for the salary given by the Spurs to satisfy him, if... Each of these will be a reason for one person and one city, but when you can only meet one, does one person and one city really make sense?
One person and one city is just a compliment, but only you know the effort behind it, and being kidnapped by this spurious compliment is a joke in itself, and Lillard almost became that joke.
Lillard waited in Portland for eleven years, he once thought CJ was his Parker, but the truth is not, after CJ left, Portland has also tossed the team many times, but their best result is only the second round of the playoffs, and in some games CJ has even played better than Lillard, but Lillard knows that Cj is not his Robin, but he still stays here.
It all ended this year when the Blazers chose Henderson with the No. 3 pick, and he knew it was a signal that he was leaving, a signal he had to want, and the meaning behind the Blazers' statement that they wanted to keep him.
When the team has a younger and more capable player, and in the same position as himself, Lillard will inevitably have waves in his heart, he knows that staying is not only a question of the championship, the team's resources will also begin to tilt, what is the point of his own one man and one city?
Now Lillard has officially applied for a trade, if you put aside the idea of the team, Lillard must go to the Heat the most, but after adding the team, the Heat has also become the team with the least chance, and the Clippers and 76ers are the Blazers want to trade more, because the Heat do not have the young power that the Blazers want.
It can be seen that the Heat are looking for a way to get Lillard, and they gave up Vincent and Strus, who had just shined in the playoffs, and traded the two instant power at the highest price, in order to be able to sign Lillard and create as much salary space as possible. But it looks like these operations pale in comparison when it comes to trading against Lillard.
And the 76ers are currently solving Harden's contract problem, if Harden leaves Philadelphia, there is only one reason that the salary has not been negotiated, and the 76ers have Maxi and Harris, these are all things that can be traded, and these are not available to the Heat.
The Clippers also have chips to impress the Blazers, and they can even trade Paul George if necessary, plus Mann, Covington and Powell.
Finally, let's talk about the Spurs, after the Spurs signed Benyama, the team's popularity continued to rise, making many people start the new season of the Spurs, but Lillard will not choose a young force that has not officially appeared in the NBA, although the Spurs have plenty of draft picks, but there is no candidate on the team that can make the Blazers' heart.
In contrast, the 76ers and Clippers are the players who can really sign Lillard, but both teams are facing their own problems, and their problems are Harden, so until this is resolved, Lillard's whereabouts will remain a mystery.