Report: Specific ‘unofficial end’ of Damian Lillard’s time with Blazers revealed

It seemed apparent that Damian Lillard once again was ready and willing to stick with the Portland Trail Blazers — assuming they could move the need this offseason even just a little. 

Unfortunately, that didn't happen, and not only that, but there weren't signs of it happening outside of the team's strong draft haul, which (rightfully) wasn't enough to push Lillard into a belief that the team could contend immediately.

But as The Athletic's Sam Amick reported, Lillard was originally ready to ask for a trade from the Blazers on Monday, days before free agency began, but opted to see how the start of free agency played out for the team. 

Then, per Amick and The Athletic, Lillard viewed the "lack of new information about possible trades or updates about ongoing talks" as meaning it was likely there was no roster momentum or "restore for his hope."

When all was said and done, the Blazers' quiet opening night of free agency, which included only the re-signing of Jerami Grant to a five-year, $160M deal, was the "unofficial end" of Lillard holding off on his trade request.

While the signs (and reports) point to Lillard making his push to land with the Miami Heat, there very well could be more to this story when all is said and done. It seems likely the Blazers will do their best to make Lillard happy, but they also don't appear to have much interest in trading him if it means getting very little in return.

Time will tell, but Lillard's trade out of Portland may not be an overnight type of deal.