Damian Lillard’s relationships are not going through their best moment. Neither with the NBA in general, nor with the Blazers in particular. The point guard, eternally tied to the Oregon franchise, which he joined in 2012, seems to finally glimpse the definitive separation. It’s not easy, it’s still not safe, but it’s all about it. And, as much as she has said actively and passively that she wants to spend her entire career in Portland and win a ring with the Blazers, everything has an expiration date. And it seems that Lillard’s adventure is nearing its end. Although, yes, the forms are not exactly the best and goodbye, as we have seen on other occasions, can be bitter.
Lillard asked to leave the Blazers on July 1.. She had been threatening to take that step for months and finally took it. At first it was said that the Blazers were going to facilitate his departure. But the demands of playmaker and his agent, Aaron Goodwin, have ended up provoking the reaction of the NBA. Within the player’s environment, it was leaked that he only wanted to end up in the Miami Heat and that he would not consider any other movement., something that tied the Blazers hand and foot in the face of negotiating with other teams. An attitude that the NBA has not liked, which in a letter addressed to the 30 NBA teams has assured that in the future such attitudes will be punishable by the competition.
The North American competition informed Lillard and Goodwin that any future comments “suggesting that Lillard will not fully perform the services requested under his player contract in the event of a trade” will be subject to disciplinary action, as will any similar comments from players or agents in the future. The star does not have an anti-transfer clause and does not have the right to veto any movement that takes him to a place where he does not want to be and the League has not liked the hidden threats that he will not fulfill his contract if he ends up in any franchise other than the Heat, despite the fact that Goodwin said that the contract would be fulfilled wherever he went.
One way or another, the reaction of the NBA gives wings to the Blazers again, that they now have more freedom to move the player, who averaged more than 32 points per duel last year and that, at 32, he is still one of the most attractive stars in the competition. In Portland they have to transfer a contract that still has 45 million to collect next season and 48, with a player option, in 2024-25. A lot of money to move but a player who is still in shape and who has a lot to contribute, also having the ability to change the course of the franchise he goes to. The Blazers are in no hurry: the gerente generalJoe Cronin has already announced that they will be patient in the negotiations and added that nothing happens if it has to take several months. In Portland they want four first rounds and two quality players in the trade and will move in the direction that best serves their interests.
Lillard has been linked to a project for more than a decade, the one he himself has led, which peaked a long time ago. The 2019 Western Conference finals with Terry Stotts on the bench were the top. Since then, the coach has left, his inseparable companion CJ McCollum and the project has been diluted with the arrival of Chauncey Billups to the bench and the confirmation that there is no possibility of taking any step forward. The reconstruction, eternally postponed, seems to finally arrive. And along the way the flagship will come out, a Lillard that could have a new destination in the near future. Whether in the Heat or not. We will see.