Damian Lillard denies any plans to demand a trade but the future with the Trail Blazers is uncertain: “At the moment, I don’t know what I’m going to do”

Damian Lillard said on Friday he had no plans to demand a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers, but stopped before making a full commitment to stay in Portland for the long term or even for next season. .

“Right now I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Lillard said at a press conference following USA Basketball practice in Las Vegas. “What I can say are my intentions and my heart has always been to wear the Trail Blazers uniform for my entire career. But I think over time you want to win it all. I want to win it all in one. Trail Blazers uniform. But we all need to make progress in that direction. “

A TrueHoop report earlier Friday said that Lillard wanted to go out and would request a swap in the next few days, leading to widespread speculation on the internet as to where Lillard might end up. But a source told The Oregonian / OregonLive ahead of Lillard’s press conference that the TrueHoop report was not accurate.

“I woke up to these reports from a lot of people who contacted me,” Lillard said. “That’s not true. I said the last time I spoke to you that a lot of things don’t come from me.

Lillard went on to say that he expects to be in a Blazers uniform next season, but has made it clear that he wants to see changes to the roster that will elevate the team to true contender status before s ‘fully commit to staying in Portland.

“I will also say that I have not made any firm decisions on what my future will be,” said Lillard. “There really is no need for someone else to speak for me or report this or report that. If there’s anything to say, like I said last time, I’ll speak directly to my team, or to Neil (Olshey). That’s it.”

Lillard’s future has become a focal point of speculation since he received a backlash from fans on social media shocked by the hiring of trainer Chauncey Billups, who was charged with rape in 1997. Case No. ‘never resulted in criminal charges but ended with Billups and a Boston Celtics at the time. teammate settling a civil action brought by the accuser. Next, a YahooSports report cited sources as saying Lillard, upset with fans the attacker and management of the coach hire, could ultimately ask to be traded out of Portland.

Lillard denied this report during her last USA Basketball media availability session on July 8. be exchanged.

Although Lillard denies asking to be transferred to another team, he also said he wanted the Blazers to show greater “urgency” to form a rival team.

“I think we’re very proud to have made the playoffs all these years in a row,” said Lillard. “We are not a bad team, we are a winning team. We are in the playoffs every year. We have a great environment. We have a big city. We have big fans. There are a lot of positives. But I just think we’ve reached that point where it’s like, OK, that’s not enough. Do we really want to win it all? Is that what we’re shooting for? And we have to do things to show it. We need to put action behind this desire to win at this level. It has been my only thing all this time.

The Blazers have reached the playoffs in eight straight seasons since Lillard’s last playoff absence in Lillard’s rookie season (2012-13). But the Blazers have reached the Western Conference final (2019) once and have been eliminated in the first round in four of the past five seasons.

The job of moving the lists falls on Olshey, president of basketball operations for the Blazers. He said days after the team parted ways with former coach Terry Stotts that he believed the roster was in place to jump next season after finishing with the sixth seed in the playoffs. Western Conference playoffs this year. The team finished tied for the eighth best NBA record (42-30) despite missing 35 games from center Jusuf Nurkic (broken wrist) and 25 games from goalie CJ McCollum (broken foot).

The offense finished 4th, while the defense finished 29th. Olshey is hoping that Billups will hold the players more responsible for the defense than Stotts and that improving the defense alone would allow the team to have a better record and therefore a bigger draw to make a run deeper into the holes. playoffs.

“We had teams in the league that didn’t make drastic changes to the roster, but they changed coaches and the team is improving, maybe because the team needed a new voice, someone new to follow, ”said Lillard. “Sometimes the coaches are just great. So I don’t dispute that Chauncey can really change our team and make us a better team, and move us forward in that direction.

Still, Lillard said changing coaches might not be enough, especially as the Blazers fell in the playoffs to a Denver side that had fewer key players, including All-Star goaltender Jamal Murray.

“I think if you look at our team as they prepare for next season, I don’t see how you say, ‘Okay, it’s a championship team, you just need a new coach, when you lost in the first round for a team that was injured, ”said Lillard. “So that’s my thought.”

Lillard said Olshey and Billups were traveling to Las Vegas to meet him, but it was a trip already planned and not a tour after rumors started to circulate.

“They were going to be here anyway,” said Lillard. “Every time I have played in the United States, they have come to support me. This time there are conversations to be had. I think people see it as this crazy big reunion or something. But there is a conversation to be had.

Lillard added that he hadn’t considered any potential destinations if he demanded an exchange.

“We’re not there yet,” he said.

But Lillard, as he does every offseason, has considered some players from other teams who he believes could potentially help the Blazers next season. Landing them is the challenge.

“It’s not unusual,” he said, looking at other players and chatting with Olshey about them. “Every year, that’s how it goes. I think this year is more urgent. This is the best way to put it. There is more urgency behind this.

– Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).

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