This past summer, Damian Lillard fed the rumor mill with cryptic comments and hints that he might be reconsidering his future in Portland.
But by the time the smoke cleared, and the new season began, Dame had made the decision to stay, and he eventually shut down all the noise about him demanding a trade.
Now, according to some front-office executives, Lillard has shifted his focus to improving the weapons he has in Portland.
Part of the plan apparently involves giving the Blazers front-office more leverage in trade talks.
“(Damian Lillard) goes from making these vague comments about, ‘Yeah, I don’t know how long I’ll be here’ like weeks before the season to suddenly ‘I’m all in,’” Kevin O’Connor said in a recent episode of his podcast. “There are front office executives around the league who think this is a strategic choice by the Blazers, Dame’s group and all that in order to create leverage for the organization because right now around the league teams just want Dame. They don’t want CJ McCollum, they don’t want Jusuf Nurkic. They’re like, ‘We’re gonna wait for Dame to demand a trade.’”
Lillard, a 6x All-Star, 6x All-NBA player, and 24 point-per-game scorer, is one of the best shooters and scorers in the league. It makes sense that a player of his caliber (in a small market) would draw so much attention from rival GMs.
But the Blazers have other guys they can use in trade talks as well, including Jusuf Nurkic, CJ McCollum, Robert Covington, and Anfernee Simons.
By reaffirming his commitment to Portland, it might make other teams more willing to listen to trade offers that don’t involve him.
Nevertheless, it’s just a waiting game at this point. Over the next few weeks, the Blazers are going to do their due diligence and look for ways to improve.
In the meantime, Dame is going to do his best to lead the squad to a respectable place in the standings.
