It has not been a good month for the Portland Trail Blazers. Months after finishing 11th in the West, and doing practically nothing in free agency, Damian Lillard finally asked for a trade after 11 years with the franchise.
To make matters even worse for Portland, Lillard only wants to go to the Heat, which means that other teams aren’t compelled to make an interesting offer. The whole thing has left the Blazers in a difficult situation, but it’s not without good reason on the part of Lillard. Damian’s desire to compete has been well documented, and yet the Trail Blazers continue to get younger despite their verbal commitment to build the best team possible.
“They were quietly rebuilding,” said ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on ‘The Old Man & The Three.’ “They tanked last year, gave him the extension… then this last season at the deadline they traded away Josh Hart. Hart is a quality player they gave away for a draft pick. That is a rebuilding team move. And then they tanked again at the end of this last season and it worked. They ended up moving up in the draft. They drafted two teenagers in back-to-back years. All of those moves are not the moves of a team competing. So they’re saying on one side ‘oh we’re gonna bring in guys’ and on the other side they’re not actually doing that.'”
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At 32 years old, Damian Lillard doesn’t have a whole lot of time left to compete for a title. So why would he waste his last good years on a team that is not in a position to compete? Now, he’s dead set on going to the Heat so he can win a ring and cement his legacy once and for all.
Trail Blazers Will Play The Long Game With Lillard
Despite Lillard’s historical significance to the franchise, things could get ugly if the Blazers hold out on trading him. It’s been widely reported that the Heat don’t have any assets that appeal to GM Joe Cronin, so it could be a while before an arrangement is made that works for all sides.
“He hung around too long there’s no other way around it,” said Jason McIntyre. “Lillard is essentially stuck in Portland now. He’s stuck in Portland because there is no trade for him. He’s turning 33 this summer, he’s still a very good player. He was just too loyal to Portland.”
The clock is on to trade Dame, but with four years left on his contract, there is no rush for Portland to make a move. Over the next few weeks, expect the Blazers to bide their time, canvass the league, and wait for an opportunity to collect a massive return for their franchise player.
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