Damian Lillard has been on the trade block for almost the last two weeks now. The 11-year veteran for the Portland Trail Blazers let the franchise and the NBA world know that his time there is up, and that he is ready to move on to his next destination. However, there’s been a significant amount of resistance to the trade, thanks to Blazers GM Joe Cronin and his unwillingness to do Dame his due diligence and trade him to his preferred situation as remuneration for all the blood and sweat Lillard has poured into the franchise.
Damian Lillard’s agent has been calling teams and warning against trading for him, per @wojespn
“Goodwin is telling organizations outside of Miami that trading for Lillard is trading for an unhappy player.” pic.twitter.com/NZRyne8JWC
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) July 6, 2023
To his credit, ‘Dame Time’ isn’t giving up so easily. Dame has his sights set firmly on the Miami Heat and refuses to be traded elsewhere. His agent definitely shares his sentiments and as a precautionary tactic to ward off other teams, Aaron Goodwin has been calling prospective teams and warning them that if they trade for Lillard against his wishes he will be an unhappy player.
We’ve seen the likes of what unhappy superstars can do to a franchise (James Harden in Houston) and this threat should be well enough to force any teams from getting too close to finishing a deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. All in all Dame and the Blazers seem to be at stalemate for the moment.
Boston Celtics emerge as a dark horse to trade for Damian Lillard
Well, it seems that the Celtics have paid no heed to Aaron Goodwin and have instead made moves according to their own tune. According to Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN, the Celtics have at least “expressed interest” in the star point guard and will make it a point to pursue him if the Miami deal eventually falls apart.
Shelbourne was quoted saying, “When you look at the league and his stated preference is to win, and teams that have the assets and maybe the ability to get this done, the Boston Celtics have the ability to get this done…I know they have expressed some interest already in this, but this is not a team that is necessarily on the list, this is not a city that he would necessarily welcome going to right now, at least from what I understand, but as far as a team that can win and that actually has the assets to do it, they make a lot of sense.”
Jayson Tatum is trying to figure out a way to get Damian Lillard to Boston, per @MarcJSpears pic.twitter.com/zPjLgf3zhN
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) July 6, 2023
The Celtics are allegedly looking at some combination of Robert Williams III, Malcolm Brogdon, and picks to exchange for Dame but considering the fact that Joe Cronin has made it clear he is looking for young star value in return, this trade doesn’t seem all that likely, unless Boston decides to go all in on win-now and trade away a franchise cornerstone in Jaylen Brown.