Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard was the subject of trade rumors throughout the entire off-season. Most of the rumors were media driven with the future Hall of Fame guard never really speaking out on it publicly.
With Portland opening up the Chauncey Billups era in its season opener Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings, Dame is once again pushing back against the idea that he’ll demand a trade.
“I don’t expect all times to be great times. Adversity is going to hit. There’s going to be some tough times,” Lillard said, via Jason Quick of The Athletic. “So if (this season) starts off rocky, or if it starts off in a struggle, I wouldn’t be happy about it. Nobody would. But I’m not going to jump ship or bail out when that happens. So, I mean, (him leaving Portland) is the easy thing and popular thing to say, but it’s not going to happen.”
The rumors were primarily due to another first-round exit in the NBA Playoffs under the recently-fired Terry Stotts. The drama surrounding Billups’ hiring also played a role.
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Damian Lillard in it for the long haul
Based on the six time All-Star’s comments, it doesn’t seem like the 2021-22 season is make or break for him in the Pacific Northwest.
“Yeah, I was upset,” Lillard said about last season’s playoff loss. “We lost to a team (Denver) I thought we should beat. I wanted us to show we really want to win. But I never said, ‘Oh, I’m leaving.’ I said, ‘If that’s what it comes to — if this is not what our real focus is — then maybe I will be forced to say all right, it’s not going to work,'” Lillard said. ““But I never said I was leaving. And I never said this is not where I want to be. I never said that.”
The question now becomes whether Portland can field a contending team in what promises to be a stacked Western Conference this season.
The team added veterans Tony Snell, Larry Nance Jr. and Cody Zeller to the mix during the summer while re-signing Norman Powell. Meanwhile, C.J. McCollum returns for another season after also being subjected to trade rumors in the off-season.
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With the Golden State Warriors back in the championship conversation and mainstays such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns set to do their thing, it appears that Portland is in the second-tier.
As for Damian Lillard, he’s averaging a resounding 29.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists on 40% shooting from distance over the past two seasons.