Damian Lillard, star of the Portland Trail Blazers and one of the most important figures in the NBA, asked his team to be transferred this Saturday, reported the ESPN network and The Athletic portal.
Adrian Wojnarowski (ESPN), one of the journalists with the best sources within the NBA, said that the Portland franchise will work with the player to find him a way out.
For his part, Shams Charania (The Athletic), another journalist with great access in the league, pointed to the Brooklyn Nets and the Miami Heat as two teams interested in incorporating the point guard.
Later, Charania assured that Lillard wants his next team to be Jimmy Butler’s Heat, who this year signed a memorable performance in the playoffs despite their last-term loss in the Finals against Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets.
Eighth in the East via play-in, Miami surprisingly beat Eastern titans like the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics on their astonishing run in the playoffs. Wojnarowski cited the Heat, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Philadelphia 76ers in his list of possible suitors for Lillard.
Included in the official list of the 75 greatest players in NBA history, Lillard, who will turn 33 on July 15, has spent his eleven seasons in the elite with the Portland jersey combining impressive individual performances with failures for his team. in the playoffs.
Thus, since his landing in the Blazers in 2012, the Portland franchise has qualified eight times for the playoffs in eleven seasons but the furthest it has gone in the fight for the ring was the 2019 Western Conference final in which They were swept 4-0 by Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors.
Lillard was a seven-time All-Star and is considered one of the NBA’s deadliest scorers of the past decade, but the Blazers failed to surround him with the pieces necessary to be a major contender for the title.
The point guard averaged 32.2 points, 4.8 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game last season, but the Blazers missed out on the playoffs for the second year in a row.
With the probable departure of Lillard, the Oregon team now faces a reconstruction in which Scoot Henderson will be key, who was chosen at number 3 in the last draft.
