After being fed up with losing with the Portland Trail Blazers and then seeing the team get younger this summer rather than bring in proven veterans to help win now, superstar guard Damian Lillard told the team that drafted him back in 2012 that he has had enough and wants to be traded.
Obviously, this sent shockwaves throughout the NBA, especially with Lillard coming off his best season in the league and putting up a career-high 71 points during the 2022-23 season.
Although Lillard has been as loyal to the Blazers as any player in the franchise’s history, he knows it’s time to move on and preferably would like to be traded to the Miami Heat.
Even though the Heat seem to be doing everything within their power to land Lillard in a trade, it doesn’t appear that many other teams are trying to bring him in, with one league executive claiming that teams weren’t lining up to make a deal with Portland after the trade demand was made, according to Sean Deveney of Forbes via NBACentral.
An NBA executive says teams weren’t lining up for Damian Lillard before his agent requested only Miami
“There’s not that many teams that are going to give you a bunch of players and picks for a 33-year-old who can’t stay healthy and has a giant contract sitting there…it was… pic.twitter.com/l68stawiBJ
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 31, 2023
Although Lillard had an impressive year in terms of his stats and putting up 71 in one game, the veteran guard only played 58 games last year, which is a big improvement from the year before when he played only 29.
When Lillard’s health comes into the equation along with his massive contract, it’s not all that surprising that teams would be hesitant to trade for him, especially if he only wants to go to Miami.
That said, this report is likely right on the money, with only a handful of teams being mentioned as potential landing spots and other teams willing to pass on the opportunity to trade for Lillard.
NEXT: Stephen A. Smith Makes His Thoughts Clear On Damian Lillard's Trade Request
