The Denver Nuggets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 126-115 on Thursday night. Following his team getting eliminated from the playoffs, Blazers star Damian Lillard posted a somewhat cryptic message:
One day later, on Friday, speculation regarding Lillard’s future with the Blazers kicked into overdrive. Namely, whether the front office would ever consider trading him.
During an episode of ESPN’s "First Take," Stephen A. Smith revealed that as many as six or seven teams had reached out to Portland regarding Lillard and that four in particular are worth keeping an eye on.
Smith said:
“Several calls have come [the Blazers’] way. You got a lot of teams — about six or seven different teams — who believe they can get their hands on him, they think they’ve got a shot.
“One of them includes the Knicks, who are scheduled to have about $75 million in cap space along with some picks. But also, the Clippers, the Miami Heat. And who knows what the Lakers may try to do. Stay tuned.”
To date, Lillard has remained pretty steadfast in his desire to stay a Blazer. And as he showed when he revealed his biggest flaw, hinted at changes for the roster and spoke of his team’s title chances, the 30-year-old generally keeps it pretty real. If he wanted out, he’d say so.
That said, if the Blazers keep underwhelming in this fashion, even someone with Lillard’s trademark patience might end up snapping. And if he does, there is a huge list of teams that’d love to make a move for him.
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