Damian Lillard Has Requested a Trade From The Blazers After 11 Seasons

(CTN News) – It has been repeatedly stated that Damian Lillard wants to compete for a championship. Having spent 11 years in Portland, he has decided it is time to move on.

It was reported Saturday that Damian Lillard asked the Trail Blazers for a trade, ending his tenure with the franchise. Lillard made the request, the team confirmed later.

The Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets, among others, are interested in Lillard, people told The Associated Press. According to the Associated Press, Damian Lillard would love to join Miami – the Eastern Conference champs – but the Trail Blazers may not facilitate the move.

Dame informed us today that he wants out and would rather play somewhere else, Blazers GM Joe Cronin said in a statement. In pursuit of our goal of winning, we are committed to doing what is best for our team.”

Last season, Lillard averaged 32.2 points for the Trail Blazers. Despite being a seven-time All-NBA selection, he hasn’t won a championship in 11 seasons.

In recent weeks, he has asked Portland to upgrade its roster so that he can compete for a championship. Damian Lillard, however, has been unhappy with those efforts, and has asked to be moved.

On the first night of NBA free agency, Portland signed Jerami Grant to a $160 million, five-year contract.

Lillard hasn’t been successful in the postseason despite his impressive resume. His 11 seasons with the Blazers resulted in four playoff series wins and a single trip to the Western Conference finals.

In the past season, the team went 33-49, finishing outside the playoff picture for the second consecutive year.

Regardless, Damian Lillard is a dynamic player. Over the last eight seasons, he has averaged at least 24 points per game, and his career average of 25.2 points ranks fourth among active players (with at least 375 games) behind Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, and LeBron James.

All players with no minimum games would be ahead of Lillard if that list included Trae Young, Zion Williamson and Luka Doncic.

A former rookie of the year, teammate of the year and winner of the NBA’s citizenship award, he had a 71-point game against Houston this past season, has 17 games of at least 50 points in his career, two of which were in the playoffs.

A gold medalist at the Tokyo Games, he praised Heat center Bam Adebayo’s play.

Damian Lillard resume is devoid of any championships.

Now he’ll try to change that.

It doesn’t matter if I succeed, fail, get criticism, what people think I should have done, what people think about me, I want to be remembered for what I am, not what I was, but what I stand for.

In the “Point Forward” podcast with former teammate Evan Turner earlier this year, Damian Lillard said he wanted to be remembered for who he was, regardless of what happened. For me, it was a big step. My goal is to be remembered for standing tall in every situation.”

While Lillard was loved in Portland, there was speculation about his future when the Blazers took Scoot Henderson with the third overall pick instead of a proven star.

Cronin said he intended to play both Damian Lillard and Henderson at the time.

“I would love to see Dame retire as a Trail Blazer. I have no desire to trade him. On draft night, Cronin said, “I hope this works out.”. He added, “I’m really excited about Scoot Henderson.”. Henderson has a chance to stand out.

Henderson was signed to a rookie contract by the Blazers on Saturday. He spent the past two seasons playing with the G League Ignite, which has been compared to Russell Westbrook’s team.

Henderson averaged 17.6 points and 6.5 assists for Ignite last season. As the youngest player to ever play in the G League, he graduated from high school early in Marietta, Georgia.

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