Back in late July, the NBA issued a warning to Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard about speaking publicly regarding his trade request to the Miami Heat.
Apparently, Dame did not get the memo. Lillard sat down with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears recently to talk about his current situation, reiterating his trade request to the Heat in the process.
“I’m not going to speak on the Blazers. It’s lot of love and respect, but I won’t speak on the Blazers. I can say that there was a trade request to the Heat, and I would just prefer not to speak on the Trail Blazers,” Damian Lillard said.
It’s pretty much the worst-kept secret in all of sports that Lillard wants to head to South Beach after spending his first 11 NBA seasons with the Blazers. Most recently, reports indicate that the two sides are expected to pick up conversations in the lead up to training camp next month.
Related: Updated NBA trade rumors
Damian Lillard stats (2022-23): 32.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 7.3 APG, 46% shooting
Lillard’s comments come after Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden was fined $100,000 by the NBA for publicly criticizing the organization and indicating that he’ll never play under front office head Daryl Morey again. Whether Dame is fined for these most-recent comments remain to be seen.
As for a potential trade, Miami upped the ante with a signficant trade offer for the future Hall of Famer earlier in August. Said offer reportedly includes three-to-four first-round picks, pick swaps, young players and former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro. We envision something getting done on this end ahead of the regular season starting in October.