Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin expressed optimism after meeting with Damian Lillard on Monday, indicating that the front office “remains committed” to building around its franchise player, Bill Oram of The Oregonian tweets.
After meeting with Lillard and his agent, Aaron Goodwin, Cronin released a short statement that read, “We had a great dialogue. We remain committed to building a winner around Dame.”
While that alone won’t end the speculation about Lillard’s future, it does indicate that the veteran guard is willing to see what the front office will do this summer to improve the roster. That could impact what teams like Miami, regarded as the most likely landing spot for Lillard, will do with free agency approaching.
There was increasing chatter that Lillard might finally ask to be traded after the Blazers drafted another point guard, Scoot Henderson, in the lottery. Portland will now look for upgrades on the free agent market and via trades.
The Blazers have a key free agent in Jerami Grant and could look to move Jusuf Nurkic or Anfernee Simons in potential deals to upgrade the roster.
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