To have a superstar like Damian Lillard act out against his organization only means that something went wrong. It goes without saying that he’s one of the best players in the league at the moment. He can also easily pass off as one of the greatest point guards of all time. This might’ve been an extremely tough decision to make considering the number of years he’s spent with Portland Trail Blazers. But it doesn’t mean issues won’t make their way out.
Last season, Lillard came back with a chip on his shoulder to prove that he needed the help he requested. After facing an injury-plagued 2021-22 season, he bounced back to the top in the one that followed. He averaged 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game shooting 46.3% from the field. Damian also recorded career highs in points, field goals, three-point field goals, effective field goal percentage, and free throws.
Damian Lillard requested a trade from Portland in July and tasked the franchise to send him to the Miami Heat. Both organizations have been in discussion regarding a trade. Miami even put forth a couple of packages involving Tyler Herro and future first-round draft picks. But Portland appears to be wanting more in return. General Manager of the Blazers, Joe Cronin made it clear that he will hold on to the trade for as long as it takes to get a desirable package.
Damian Lillard is still open to start training camp with the Blazers
So far, the Blazers have not found any desirable trade package from the Heat. The latter has been working on multi-team trade packages internally, but nothing has surfaced just yet. With the training camp quickly approaching, experts now claim that the Blazers will have to act fast or deal with Lillard for the start of the season. Additionally, it has come to a point where other managers and teams are regrouping from vacation, so the trade might gain a bit more traction than it has.
Recently, Shams Charania revealed that Damian Lillard has only two teams in mind that he is willing to start training camp with. And they are the Blazers and the Heat. Shams also stated that the 7x All-Star will not appear for training camp on any other team, which means that he might immediately request another trade to Miami. Previously, he was warned by league authorities against the idea of refusing to exercise his contractual duties.
Dame will not report to training camp if he’s traded to a team other than Miami, per @ShamsCharania
“At this point… the only two training camps that Damian Lillard would report to, in theory: Portland and Miami.” 😳
(h/t: @TheRally) pic.twitter.com/RGje7DSi82
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 11, 2023
In this case, the NBA will have a problem to deal with if he decides not to play for another team, let alone start training camp with them. However, the Blazers and Damian Lillard are open to working with each other through training camp.