The 11-year run of Damian Lillard appears to have their data numbered, as the no.6 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft has requested that Portland Trail Blazers deal him.
The decision concludes weeks of speculation and conflicting statements from Lillars declaring his wish to stay with the club and cryptic hints of a desire to potentially play elsewhere.
The Blazers have made the playoffs in 7 of Dame’s 11 seasons, advancing to the Western Conference Finals in 2018-19, where they were swept by the Golden State Warriors. In recent years the team has stagnated and even regressed. The team was forced to jettison their second-best player C.J. McCollum in move that was rooted in dollars and cents, rather than improving the team. Combine these factors with the emergence of Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe, as well as the drafting of Scoot Henderson at no.3 in this year’s draft has seemingly swung the Blazers’ pendulum toward a youth movement.
The early leaders in the clubhouse for acquiring the seven-time All-Star’s services were the Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets. acording to reporting from Vincent Goodwill of yahoo sports/ the Sixers are not Lillard’s preferred destination and he’d like to be traded to the Heat.
