Trail Blazers GM Proves Team Is In No Rush To Trade Damian Lillard

Everyone in the NBA seems to be waiting to see what will happen next with Damian Lillard, the franchise player of the Portland Trail Blazers.

After years of toiling on a Blazers team that could never rise above mere respectability, Lillard asked to be traded, which had fans of some other teams expecting a deal to go down not too long afterward.

But Blazers GM Joe Cronin made a comment on Monday that makes it appear as if his team has no urgency to trade its superstar, via Adrian Wojnarowski.

Blazers GM Joe Cronin tells reporters on a Damian Lillard trade: “If it takes months, it takes months.”

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 10, 2023

The Blazers are the only NBA team Lillard has ever played for ever since they took him with the No. 6 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.

He has been one of the league’s very best point guards, both in terms of distributing and scoring, and he has also been arguably the game’s deadliest player in crunch time.

But for all his individual exploits, Portland has made it to the Western Conference Finals only once with him, and their lack of success is entirely because they never managed to build a winning team around him.

Although they currently have studs Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant, not to mention Scoot Henderson, the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft, they’re years away from title contention.

Although Lillard averaged a career-high 32.2 points a game this past season, he is nearing his 33rd birthday, and he simply doesn’t have the time to wait out a rebuilding project.

Many expect him to be traded to the Miami Heat, the team he has said he wants to go to, but only time will tell if he will get his wish.

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NBA Insider Details Potential Trade Package For Damian Lillard