Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard formally requested a trade away from Portland on Saturday, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The soon-to-be 33-year-old Lillard has spent his entire career in Portland, who drafted him with the sixth pick in 2012.
In 58 games for the Trail Blazers last season, Lillard averaged a career-high 32.2 points, 7.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game on 46.3% shooting from the floor. The seven-time All-NBA selection made it clear to Portland’s front office that he wanted to win with the Trail Blazers, but was not interested in a rebuild. After the Trail Blazers failed to acquire a star to pair alongside Lillard and drafted Scoop Henderson with the No. 3 pick in the draft last week, it was clear that something was going to give between Portland and its franchise player.
Now Lillard is destined to move on, with Charania reporting that the Heat are the desired destination for the point guard, updating the situation after initially mentioning the Nets as another main contender. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski noted that the 76ers and Clippers are also interested in putting together trade packages to acquire Lillard. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne also mentioned the Spurs as a potential wild card.
With the future Hall of Famer finally requesting a trade, NBA Twitter went crazy on Saturday. Here are some of the best reactions from the trade request of Lillard.
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Nets and Heat will be in the Lillard mix but if I'm Portland, I want to horn in on any Sixers-Clippers talks involving James Harden.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) July 1, 2023
Harden to the Clippers, Lillard the Sixers and both teams dump draft picks and matching salaries in the Blazers lap. https://t.co/EqgUr6q3pq
Miami is a preferred trade destination for Dame, per @VinceGoodwill.
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) July 1, 2023
"Miami" was playing in the background of his IG Live last Friday 👀🌴
(via @Dame_Lillard) pic.twitter.com/IJVzAsmuTR
Damian Lillard finally leaving “The Grind” like pic.twitter.com/uDsowfF4KA
— RingerNBA (@ringernba) July 1, 2023
Like Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey, Damian Lillard wants to live and work in South Florida ☀️ https://t.co/EgNO667szE
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) July 1, 2023
“Dame has earned a bigger stage.”@ColinCowherd reacts to Damian Lillard reportedly requesting a trade out of Portland pic.twitter.com/vqrBEsh8x2
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) July 1, 2023
Jerami Grant: Now that I’m locked up, we can run this back!!
— ry (@NinjaBands) July 1, 2023
Damian Lillard: pic.twitter.com/7IOQM0ndMR
Jerami Grant 🤝 Shabazz Napier
— Russillo (@ryenarussillo) July 1, 2023
