• Andre Iguodala has supported Damian Lillard wanting out of the Portland Trail Blazers
• Iguodala believes Lillard shouldn’t have to suffer on the Blazers
• He said the Blazers aren’t putting him in a position to win
Andre Iguodala has come out in support of Damian Lillard, who’s been embroiled in a trade saga with the Portland Trail Blazers. While Iguodala didn’t directly address Lillard wanting to move to the Miami Heat, he does believe that the Blazers should let him loose to compete for a championship.
“That’s a tough battle, as well. Steve Kerr and I have been in conversations about this as well, obviously, I don’t wanna throw Steve under the bus, but I agree with Steve. Dame Lillard is one of the top players in the NBA, and he wants to win. And if his organization isn’t putting him in a position to win, then why should he have to suffer?… On one side, you can’t be upset at an athlete for wanting to be traded, but then on the other side when he’s not winning because the team isn’t set up to win, you can’t criticize him.”
It doesn’t look like the Blazers are opposed to moving Lillard. They’re just opposed to moving him to the Heat that have minimal desirable assets to offer.
If Lillard made a trade request without specifying a destination, it’s likely that the Blazers would have traded him to a team like Utah or Brooklyn in an open market.
Will Damian Lillard Find A New Home Before Training Camp?
Training camp is just a few weeks away, with the beginning of preseason less than a month away. If there is a summer move to be had, it’ll happen now. If the Blazers don’t trade Lillard before training camp, we will likely be waiting until the trade deadline to see what happens with the superstar point guard.
There is nothing the Heat can do to change the Blazers’ mind, unless they find a team that will give them a sizable return for Tyler Herro. With team’s around the league knowing that the Heat are desperate to move on from Herro to make a Lillard trade more feasible given the Blazers’ lack of interest in Herro, it’s unlikely he fetches any real value back for Miami to facilitate a Lillard trade.
Lillard turned down championship destinations like the Celtics when he made his trade request, showing that he’s pretty focused on ending up in Miami. Until the Blazers acquiesce to a trade, he can’t make that dream come true.
Should Damian Lillard Evaluate Other Options?
Everyone knows that the Heat and Blazers are locked in a stalemate, with the Heat not improving their offer and the Blazers having no interest in trading him to Miami. So what other destinations should be in the mix for Dame?
The Celtics were reportedly ruled out by Dame himself and the Kristaps Porzingis deal means there is limited space on the books to acquire Dame now.
The Spurs, and Nets have been linked with Dame periodically over the summer as well. The Spurs are not close to being contenders, so Dame wouldn’t want to work on a project like that. The Nets are better-equipped than the Spurs, but even they have a lot more to figure out.
The OKC Thunder could be an interesting destination based on their surplus of young talent and picks. Even though they would be considered a better project than San Antonio at this point, it seems unlikely that the franchise picks Dame to be the star they go all-in for.
Not a lot of destinations looks open for Lillard, so we may just be headed to the inevitable Miami Heat trade by the time the deadline rolls around in February 2024.
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