Damian Lillard is an optimist. At least he was optimistic Wednesday, hours before a disappointing loss in Boston, where I caught up with him on the TD Garden floor. Despite Portland’s rocky season—31–35 entering Friday-night’s game in Philadelphia—Lillard still believed the Trail Blazers could salvage it.
“It looks like we’re struggling, but there are [five] teams with 33 or 34 losses,” Lillard says. “So it looks like, ‘Oh, you know, trying to get a play-in spot.’ But everybody’s playing each other and everybody’s in the same thing. We could end up fifth. In a perfect world, it’s possible. Right now, we just have to keep fighting and try to be one of those teams that comes out on the other side.”
This isn’t a column calling for the Blazers to trade Lillard. Or for Lillard to ask for a trade. That story is old. Tired. Done. Lillard is committed to Portland. He has said so publicly. He has contractually locked himself in. He plays to win championships. He is just hell-bent on winning one with the Blazers.
