The Damian Lillard trade saga with the Portland Trail Blazers took an interesting turn on Friday, with the NBA releasing a memo to every team in the league about the superstar guard and his agent publicly saying he’ll only play for the Miami Heat.
Although this kind of thing happens all the time in the NBA behind closed doors, the league didn’t like Lillard and his camp being so vocal about the stance, and now they’ve been threatened with discipline if they continue down this path.
There’s even been talk that if the Blazers and Heat come to terms on a trade, the league might veto the deal because of all that has gone on, but that is nothing more than speculation at this point in time.
In response to the league taking action in this situation, Lillard has agreed to broaden his horizons a bit by being more open to more trade possibilities rather than only wanting to be traded to Miami, according to the Miami Herald via NBA Central.
Damian Lillard assured the NBA that he will give any team in the league his all-out effort
“Goodwin and Lillard affirmed to us that Lillard would fully perform the services called for under his player contract in any trade scenario. The relevant teams provided descriptions of… pic.twitter.com/kgAoj5lGMF
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 28, 2023
Obviously, this might not change much as no team in the league wants to give up considerable assets to trade for a superstar that doesn’t want to play for them, which might be the hold-up in getting a deal done this summer.
However, this could also speed up the process and make teams like the Utah Jazz and Brooklyn Nets more willing to talk about a blockbuster trade with the Blazers in order to add the future Hall of Famer to their squad ahead of the 2023-24 NBA season.
NEXT: NBA Reportedly Sent Memo To Teams About Damian Lillard Trade Request
