Damian Lillard’s uncertain future in Portland

Damian Lillard has been one of the most talked about stars in the league this offseason, which is not good news for the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard has spent 9 seasons in Portland now and the farthest they have gone in the postseason was to the Western Conference Finals in 2019, but they went on to get swept by the Golden State Warriors in this series. 

The Trail Blazers seem like they are still a long ways away from being a true title contender in the Western Conference and with teams like the Jazz, Suns and the Nuggets overtaking them in terms of being true contenders, things are not looking good for the Blazers. 

After years of playoff disappointment, Portland made the decision to part ways with Terry Stotts, who had served as the head coach of this franchise since the start of the 2012-13 season. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum have never played for another coach other than Stotts at the NBA level, which is why this was a big decision.

Early on, there was a lot of speculation that Jason Kidd could be the next head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers after Damian Lillard voiced his admiration for Kidd, but the NBA Hall-of-Famer withdrew his name from consideration for the position after this.

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Chuncey Billups was another name mentioned by Lillard and just the other day, the Blazers announced that Billups would be their new head coach. There has been some public backlash though about Portland hiring Billups because of some prior sexual assault allegations back in 1997, which has also fueled some NBA trade rumors about the Trail Blazers’ star becoming “unhappy” in his current situation.

However, Damian Lillard has refuted telling anybody that he wants out of Portland and addressed the issue with the media during the Team USA training camp in Las Vegas this past week. “Anything that I have to say, I’m going to say directly to Neil and I’m going to address it directly with my team,” Lillard stated when discussing the Blazers’ general manager, Neil Olshey. “There’s really nothing else I have to say about it.”

If Damian Lillard actually decides to request a trade out of Portland, he will become the most talked about player available and all 29 teams will be looking to possibly acquire him. In fact, some teams have already started discussing possible trade scenarios with the Blazers, but Portland is not ready to move on from their All-Star guard just yet. 

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Sources have told NBA Analysis Network that the Warriors, 76ers, Heat and the Raptors are some teams in the league who have already reached out to the Trail Blazers in regards to Lillard being on the table, but no further details have been said about what kinds of deals have been discussed. It is assumed that these “talks” were just preliminary talks that could advance further if Dame does indeed want out of Portland. 

Back in the 2018 offseason, we saw Anthony Davis go to the Lakers on a huge deal that included the likes of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, three first-round draft picks and a first-round pick swap. If Lillard is to be traded, we could see a very similar deal be put together for him, especially since Damian Lillard is arguably a Top-5 player in the league right now. 

Lillard is about to turn 31-years-old and is playing the best basketball of his career right now, which is why any team that wants him should be prepared to give up basically their entire future to acquire him.