One of the key questions of the NBA offseason revolves around the Trail Blazers and their willingness to move on from star point guard Damian Lillard.
Lillard has not formally requested a trade, but has not been shy in answering questions regarding his playing future if it didn’t include returning to the Trail Blazers.
With Portland set to pick third on Thursday night, which is expected to net the Trail Blazers either Brandon Miller out of Alabama, or more likely, Scoot Henderson of G League Ignite, there is an expectation that the franchise will receive a flurry of calls about Lillard’s availability.
“The Blazers have indicated that they are going to draft, which looks like it’s going to be Scoot Henderson,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on Get Up! on Thursday morning. “Dame Lillard has indicated, not behind the scenes, on the record, that he does not want to play in a youth movement with a young player in a rebuild. If I was an arbiter in this situation, an arbiter might say it is absolutely the correct decision to draft Scoot Henderson, getting a player of this caliber at the No. 3 pick is better than any player they could acquire trading the No. 3 pick, and anybody who would look at Dame Lillard in his early 30s, who hasn’t had success the last couple years, who asked them to go a different direction and they draft anyway, would say to him it’s time to go.
“I think if a couples counselor came together, he would recommend a split. Portland isn’t admitting that, but the rest of the league knows it and they’re preparing their offers for what happens over the next 24 to 72 hours with how Lillard might react to them going forward to making the draft [pick].”
.@windhorstespn says teams are "preparing their offers" for Damian Lillard 👀
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 22, 2023
"Anybody who would look at Dame Lillard ... Who asked [the Blazers] to go in a different direction and they draft anyway would say to him, 'It's time to go.'" pic.twitter.com/z3j9WneyU5
With that in mind, could Portland move Lillard? At the very least, a “flurry” of calls are expected to come their way on Thursday night.
“[Teams] are already getting ready waiting for the moment to happen. Whether Lillard makes the move or the Blazers make the move, nobody seems like they want to be the fall guy here. Lillard doesn’t want to look like the bad guy. The Blazers still are hoping to convince him to stay. But we’ll see how long they continue with that position,” Windhorst added.
Lillard has spent all 11 of his professional seasons in Portland, where he has averaged 25.2 points per game, 6.7 assists and 4.2 rebounds on 43.9% shooting from the floor. He has been named All-NBA seven times, and is a seven-time All-Star as well.
