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Damian Lillard is ready to ask for a trade that would take him away from the Portland Trail Blazers. Today, Truehoop’s Henry Abbott quoted a “source close to Lillard” as saying the request was imminent in an article titled “About This Time.”
Abbott described Portland’s exit in the 2021 NBA Playoffs at the hands of the Denver Nuggets as emblematic of the problem. Lillard scored 55 points in Game 5 of this series, but the Blazers lost in double overtime, which Abbott said “cemented the narrative” that the team are not good enough to support a superstar from. its magnitude. Abbott cited Lillard’s now famous Instagram post in which the Guardian used lyrics by rap legend Nipsey Hussle to express his feelings:
Events since then have only exacerbated the problem:
If it’s a surprise, you didn’t care. As an organization, the Blazers have been founding since leaving the playoffs. Coach Terry Stotts has been let go. Sources say billionaire Jody Allen is considering selling the team. The Blazers feature prominently in business rumors.
The article chronicles the turmoil surrounding the selection and hiring of head coach Chauncey Billups as contributing factors.
Truehoop also reads in the tea leaves various Lillard statements and rap lyrics to bolster the deal, claiming that Lillard’s involvement with Team USA in Las Vegas and the release of Space Jam 2 today provides enough opportunities to high level away from the Blazers to let the “it’s time to go” sentiment flourish.
Finally, and most surprisingly, Abbott claims that the desire to go their separate ways may have elements of reciprocity, with the Blazers also wanting to step down due to their current situation. So far, his long contract and the increase in the team’s value has kept him sacrosanct in Portland, but …
This calculation may have changed. The main thing that drives down the team’s valuation, if sold today, is the appearance of widespread disarray. Imagine being a billionaire planning to shell out a few billion for a sports team, and knowing the moment you did it, Stephen A. Smith would be on TV saying you picked up a joke from a franchise? Billionaires can be very sensitive.
Also: imagine if the team doesn’t trade Lillard, and then, like Anthony Davis in New Orleans, things get untenable. What new NBA billionaire wants his first move to be to tear Rip City’s heart apart? It’s easy to imagine contenders buying the team and asking Jody Allen to stabilize the franchise first.
Editorialization: It should be noted that there is strength be ways to stabilize the franchise without throwing out the baby, the bathwater, and the top three floors of the mansion, but if Lillard publicly asks for an exchange, those measures would lose their effectiveness.
The 31-year-old goalie has spent all nine NBA seasons with the Blazers since Portland selected him 6th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft. He has won 6 All-Star nominations and half a dozen nominations. for the All-NBA team (a first team) with an average of 24.7 points, 6.6 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 682 appearances.
You can read the entire article on Truehoop.
Update 8:10 am, Pacific:
Fox Sports’ Yaron Weitzman tweets that Lillard should be available for questions today as part of Team USA’s media program. If that holds up, this subject will surely be on the minds of the assembled journalists.
Team USA has just sent its media program for today. Damian Lillard is listed as one of the players who will be available to reporters
– Yaron Weitzman (@YaronWeitzman) July 16, 2021
Update 8:22 a.m., Pacific:
Lillard’s teammate Jusuf Nurkic weighed in with this:
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