(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
This summer has been one long pause for the Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard.
Lillard demanded a trade a couple of months ago after being very loyal to them for years, and he made it clear the Miami Heat, and only the Heat, are the team he wants to go to.
There has been little, if any, progress in terms of a potential trade for most of the summer, making it seem almost inevitable that perhaps Lillard will begin training camp as a member of the Blazers.
But ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski, per Dru on Twitter, says his sense is that now Portland is talking more with other teams in order to put together a three-team trade in order to receive the type of assets they would want in return for Lillard.
“My sense is that the Blazers have done a lot more talking w/ teams in the last 10-14 days then they did in the month plus prior…I think Portland, what they’ve been trying to do is see how they can put together multi-team deals that would get them the assets they want”- @wojespn pic.twitter.com/HKUpS6ELGf
— Dru (@dru_star) September 15, 2023
Over the last two years, Portland has gone with a youth movement, and their roster is now focused more around guard Anfernee Simons, forward Jerami Grant, and incoming rookie Scoot Henderson.
That timeline doesn’t exactly match up with that of Lillard, who is 33 years of age and hasn’t even come close to competing for an NBA championship in his 11 seasons in the league.
During that time, the Blazers have reached the Western Conference Finals just once, and they haven’t even made the playoffs the last two seasons.
If a deal with Miami is ever consummated, it would likely make them the favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference and possibly win the world title this coming season.
The post Insider Notes Blazers Have Made A Change In Damian Lillard Trade Saga appeared first on The Cold Wire.