The name of Portland Trail Blazers superstar guard Damian Lillard has been the subject of trade talks and rumors for months and they have continued even into the offseason.
Despite the winds of trade speculation swirling about him, Lillard has consistently maintained his desire to remain a Blazer. He was asked the same question once again on a live and he quelled the speculation……sort of.
While on said live, Lillard responded to a question from one of the chatters asking if he was leaving the PDX, to which Dame gave the interesting response of “not right now at least.”
This was a departure from the definitive stance of his wishes to remain in Portland long term. The non-committal nature of the response comes at a time in which Lillard’s tenure with the Blazers is the most tenuous that it has ever been. Since the departure of LaMarcus Aldridge after the 2014-15 season, Lillard has been the unquestioned face of the Portland Trail Blazers he’s been more than a capable torch bearer, averaging 26.2 points, 6.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds over that time frame. They have made the playoffs every season during this stretch but have only made it out first twice , losing to the Warriors in the conference semifinals in 2015-16 and falling once again to the Warriors in the conference finals in 2018-19. This inability to breakthrough has fuelled calls to shake up/break up the roster and hence the speculation that Lillard could be on the move sooner rather than later.
It seems evident that when the 2021-22 season tips off that Damian Lillard will be a Trail Blazer. The question remains will that be the case after the trade deadline?
