The Portland Trail Blazers front office didn’t seem to be too worried about Damian Lillard’s ultimatum.
Lillard told them to trade their first-round picks to get him more help, and they didn’t listen.
Not only that, but they also drafted his replacement, Scoot Henderson.
It’s easy to understand why Lillard wanted out of there, but GM Joe Cronin seemed unwilling to play ball, and it kind of felt personal.
Lillard recently told Sam Amick of The Athletic that Cronin was pretty much against everything he wanted.
He realized that he was never going to be traded to the Miami Heat, as they hadn’t even talked to them, and it felt like they had no interest to do so (via NBACentral).
Damian Lillard says the Blazers went against everything he wanted
“It was anything to go against what I would have wanted. That part was irritating. Just based off how it was happening, I knew (it wouldn’t be Miami)…(The Blazers) hadn’t talked to Miami. So once it started… pic.twitter.com/bzH65QXSNw
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 23, 2023
Lillard reportedly didn’t hold onto the hope of joining the Heat.
At the end of the day, the Blazers ended up doing him a favor, as he has a much bigger chance to win an NBA championship in Milwaukee than in South Beach.
Also, the Bucks’ offer was objectively much better than the Heat’s, as they kept trying to lowball the Blazers, thinking no one else would join the race for Lillard.
As for Cronin, he was also right by not caving into Lillard’s demands.
Player empowerment is great and all, but stars handpicking the teams they’re traded to is far from ideal for the league, the fans, and every single team.
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