Damian Lillard desperately wants to compete for championships right now, but that doesn’t mean the superstar point guard wants to form a superteam for it.
NBA insider Chris Haynes, who is quite close to Lillard, revealed that he doesn’t want to be a part of a team that has three superstars, but just to be on one that can compete for titles.
“One thing I can say about him is that he doesn’t want to be on a team that is just stacked,” Haynes said. “He doesn’t want to have a team where it’s just 3 All-Stars or 3 superstars and then they go and battle that way. No, he just wants a team that has a shot.”
Haynes believes Lillard has never been on a team that has a realistic shot at competing for titles. He added that while the regime has now changed, with Joe Cronin becoming the permanent GM for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2022, they are looking at things the way the old regime did and Lillard wants that to change.
“Dame is trying to give the organization time to come up with something,” Haynes continued. “That’s all Dame is asking for, come up with something. He doesn’t wanna go younger. He wants to get older with proven veteran players. He wants to win now.”
“He doesn’t want to be on a team where it’s just 3 All-Stars or 3 superstars… He just wants a team that has a shot.”
-B/R’s @ChrisBHaynes on Dame’s outlook https://t.co/xKA06feWpi
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 26, 2023
It is clear that Lillard, who averaged 32.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 7.3 APG, 0.9 SPG, and 0.3 BPG last season, would prefer to stay in Portland and he is giving them every chance to get it right. He and his agent met with Cronin on Monday and the GM released a statement later which said they had a great dialogue and that the team is committed to building a winner around Lillard.
Damian Lillard’s Dream Scenario Was Revealed
So, what is the move for them to make Lillard happy? Well, NBA insider Sam Amick reported that Dame’s dream scenario is the Blazers re-signing Jerami Grant and then acquiring Draymond Green in free agency.
The issue though is that the Blazers can’t really pull this off. The only way for this to happen would be if Green takes a pay cut to join them, but he believes he is easily worth another $100 million, so that won’t happen. Re-signing Grant won’t be cheap in itself either, as he could command a five-year, $150 million deal to stay with them. There are some big decisions to make for the front office and the Blazers are certainly the team to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
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