Throughout his NBA career, Damian Lillard has remained fully committed to the Portland Trail Blazers. In an era where All-Stars are constantly swapping teams, he wants to be the star who stays.
Following multiple playoff runs falling short, the Blazers finally decided to make major changes to their roster. Arguably their biggest move was trading longtime guard CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans.
The new-look Blazers are filled with youth, and it caused a steep drop in the standings. With Damian Lillard out of action for most of the year, Portland finished the season with a record of 27-55.
Since Portland has moved towards a rebuild, many expect the team to part ways with its franchise cornerstone as well. Based on some of Lillard’s recent comments, that does not seem to be the case.
“A tough season, a lot of adversity this year. A lot of things came up that we didn’t expect. But I want you to know one thing, this will not continue. Next year we’re going to be back better than before.”
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The basketball community has waited years for Lillard to be moved out of Portland, and it still doesn’t appear it will happen. Which begs the question, what do the Blazers intend to do this offseason?
If they don’t intend to rebuild, they will have a lot of pieces in play to retool. Between a lottery pick and multiple enticing young players, Portland could package assets in a trade for a new running mate to put alongside Lillard. The Blazers will also have a fair amount of cap space at their disposal as well.
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At this point, there is no telling what Portland will decide to do in terms of its future. A lot can change between now and the official start of the offseason. Given the current state of the franchise, they would be much better off trading Damian Lillard for a massive haul to jumpstart their full-scale rebuild. Only time will tell if we see Lillard in a Portland Trail Blazers jersey next season.
