Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes
Breakups are always ugly and the split between Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers has been no different. There’s been a lot leaking out across the NBA world about the split.
The story that has everyone’s attention is the latest from Bleacher Report’s Chris Hyanes. Haynes managed to get Lillard on the record about the Trail Blazers and leaving for Milwaukee with his latest.
In it, Haynes revealed that Lillard tried to rescind his trade request, only for Blazers GM Joe Cronin to reportedly tell him there was “no coming back.” That, somehow, ended up not being the most interesting tidbit included.
Haynes reported that the Trail Blazers legitimately asked Lillard to sit out with a fake calf injury so they could tank the final 10 games.
“According to sources, Portland had asked Lillard to sit out the final 10 games of the 2022-23 regular season to help the franchise improve its lottery odds. He was told the higher the draft pick, the better chance they had at using the pick to facilitate a trade for a proven veteran player. He reluctantly acquiesced to being shut down, citing a “calf injury.
Portland went 1-9 to finish the season and would go on to win the No. 3 pick and select Scoot Henderson, a promising young point guard the team planned to keep.”
That right there? That’s a bombshell.
For it to be so specifically reported here in a story where Lillard, himself, went on the record? That’s a big deal. That’s league investigation-worthy.
Look, we’re not dumb. Fans have always known that tanking was a thing. The Blazers, in particular, have gotten really good at it at the end of the season.
But this story put it out in the open. This is far worse than what the Mavericks were fined $750,000 for at the end of last season when the team openly tanked the final two games of the year for better draft capital. Portland’s stint was reportedly 10 games here and the team faked an injury to its best player.
If the league launches an investigation into this and finds there to be some truth here, we could be staring at massive penalties for the Trail Blazers ranging from huge fines to loss of draft picks and everything in between. This is a big accusation.
Of course, there is some reason to be skeptical here. It’s not a secret how close Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes and Damian Lillard are. The two are legitimately friends and that’s fine. But it does make one question how much Lillard had to do with getting this out. Is the former Portland star just trying to burn his old team? That’s unclear.
Even if that’s the case, though, where there’s smoke there is often fire. If even a sliver of this actually happened, it’s a massive red flag for the NBA and something the league should jump in.
The league’s new player participation rules prevent things like this from happening moving forward into the future, so it’s clearly far less of a problem today than it was last year in the NBA. Maybe, since it’s not an issue moving forward, it’s not worth diving into and making an already messy situation worse for the NBA as it tries to figure out its next television deal.
But, from here on out, I’ll definitely be looking at the Trail Blazers a bit sideways from this. I’m sure the NBA will, too.
A big night in the WNBA
We’ve got two pretty pivotal games on tap tonight in the W with a whole lot at stake on both sides of the bracket.
On one side: The Dallas Wings are trying to stay alive against the Las Vegas Aces (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN 2). The Aces are up in the series 2-0 right now and another win would get them to the Finals. A’ja Wilson is on an absolute tear, dropping at least 30 points in six of her last seven games. Vegas looks pre-All-Star break Vegas and that’s super scary for the other side.
On the other: Speaking of the other side, this isn’t quite a do-or-die situation for the Liberty, but they play the Sun in Connecticut tonight (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN 2) and could go down 2-1 without homecourt if they aren’t careful. Breanna Stewart hasn’t given her strongest performance yet this postseason and is shooting a putrid 27 percent from the floor through five games. If there was ever a game New York could use from her, it’s this one. I think she shows up in a big way.
The Tip-Off
It came as a bit of a pleasant surprise earlier this year when we saw Bronny James included in ESPN’s 2024 NBA mock draft as a top 10 pick. Now, after his scary cardiac arrest episode, he’s not included in the latest mock at all.
Don’t fret though, our Bryan Kalbrosky writes. That actually makes a bit of sense.
“Back in February, Givony projected James as a top-10 pick in the first edition of his 2024 NBA mock draft. Then in Givony’s second edition, published in June, James was projected at No. 17 overall.
While we have received positive updates about James following his health scare, it makes sense why Givony would include the incoming freshman in this mock draft.
James is reportedly “doing very well” but did not participate with the team for USC’s first practice of the season. USC head coach Andy Enfield did not provide further comment about James’ medical status.”
Things are just a bit up in the air with James right now. We don’t know when he’ll be able to play for USC next. And, honestly, that’s the least concerning thing right now — he just needs to be healthy.
Once doctors are certain he’s able to play without any health scares, he’ll be just fine. His future is still just as bright.
Shootaround
— Mark Cuban openly admitted the NBA’s new player participation policies are influenced by sports betting. That’s kind of wild, right? Right? Prince Grimes has more.
— The Heat missed out on Damian Lillard and they only have themselves to blame for it.
— Tyler Herro doesn’t seem like he’s going to be a member of the Miami Heat for long, speaking of the Lillard trade that never happened.
— Bryan Kalbrosky had an awesome interview with Ray Allen that you should absolutely take some time and read today.
That’s all, folks! Enjoy your weekend.
