Damian Lillard decided to end an 11-year ringless journey with the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this summer. More than two months back, Lillard demanded a trade out of Portland. Despite the Miami Heat being his preferred destination(according to sources), it is still not certain which team will take up his $45,640,084 salary for the upcoming season. While the Heat haven’t been able to provide a solid offer to the Blazers, the Toronto Raptors, the Chicago Bulls, and the Phoenix Suns have all joined the race to sign Dame. According to an NBA insider’s recent report, Lillard could reportedly ‘make it ugly’ if he is dealt to the Raptors.
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Damian Lillard is not the only star guard in the league who wants out of his current team. James Harden, who had an outburst against his team during his recent China tour, has also made it clear to the Philadelphia 76ers that he wants to be traded. With the situation of both guards getting slightly out of hand, Kevin Garnett recently suggested that the 76ers and the Blazers could just swap their guards to solve the equation.
Damian Lillard would ‘make it ugly’ if he was traded to the Toronto Raptors
On the recent episode of the Five on the Floor podcast, NBA writer Ethan Skolnick spoke about the possibility of Damian Lillard being traded to the Toronto Raptors. Clearly, it isn’t a destination where Dame sees himself playing, according to Skolnick. The senior NBA writer also quoted a ‘national reporter’, saying that the 6ft 2” star could create an ugly scene if traded to the Northern side.
Ethan didn’t name his source. But, he did make it clear that his source was extremely close to Dame’s camp. Several assume that Chris Haynes could be his source.
“Toronto is a place that Dame would make it ugly. He [the anonymous source] didn’t mention Chicago, he didn’t mention any other teams… And I know for a fact, 100%, that this particular reporter has a great relationship with Dame’s agent and has for a very long time… Are you saying that he’s [Masai Ujiri] going to make a deal for Dame Lillard, who clearly for a whole bunch of reasons does not want to be there, and potentially could make it ugly and could ask for a trade in the first week…‘okay, well you got me, now ship me to Miami’.”
It is no surprise that the Miami Heat is the franchise that Dame sees himself playing for. Since his request to be traded from the Oregon side, Dame’s camp has explicitly revealed his desire to play on Erik Spoelstra’s team. However, unlike the Raptors, the Suns and the Bulls don’t seem to be a dealbreaker for the seven-time All-Star in the way Toronto is.
Dame rejected the idea of joining the Golden State Warriors
Earlier in the summer, reports suggested that the Golden State Warriors was also a likely destination where Damian Lillard could end up. Considering the fact that Dame is originally from the Bay Area, two ESPN senior reporters suggested that Dame could be on the move to play for Steve Kerr’s team.
“They could have waited for Dame. Dame is from the Bay Area. I know he was interested…If he was going to ask for a trade…the Warriors would have been on that list.”
Very recently, Lillard decided to speak up on the rumours revolving around the GSW. On a podcast appearance, the Blazers star snubbed the idea of teaming up with Stephen Curry.
