AP Photo/Matt York
Despite recent speculation about Damian Lillard’s future, the Portland Trail Blazers star reportedly isn’t going to go all in on a trade demand.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported on the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (starts at the 31:20 mark) that “based on my conversations” with people in Lillard’s orbit, the six-time All-Star isn’t seriously looking to get out.
The rumblings about Lillard’s future really got going Sunday when Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported he might request a trade because of the “enormous backlash” over Portland’s coaching search and “concerns on whether a championship contender” can be built by the organization.
That same day, the Blazers announced Chauncey Billups as their new head coach. The hiring raised a discussion about sexual assault allegations made by a woman, who used the alias Jane Doe, against Billups and Ron Mercer when they played for the Boston Celtics in 1997.
Per Sports Illustrated‘s Jack Winter, Doe alleged “she was led to a bedroom where Billups and Mercer engaged in multiple ‘unwanted’ sex acts on her.”
Billups and Mercer settled a civil lawsuit with Doe in 2000.
Lillard took to Twitter prior to the announcement of Billups’ hiring to explain his position on the decision:
Damian Lillard @Dame_Lillard
Really? I was asked what coaches I like of the names I “heard” and I named them. Sorry I wasn’t aware of their history I didn’t read the news when I was 7/8yrs old. I don’t support Those things … but if this the route y’all wana come at me… say less <a href=”https://t.co/N1GPkX3Ohd”>https://t.co/N1GPkX3Ohd</a>
Even before the hire generated controversy, Lillard fueled speculation about his future with his comments following the team’s first-round playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets.
“Obviously, where we are isn’t good enough to win a championship if it’s not good enough to get out of a first-round series with two of their best three or four players not on the floor,” Lillard told reporters.
The 2021-22 season will mark the first year of the four-year, $176.3 million extension Lillard signed in July 2019.
He has spent his nine-year NBA career with the Blazers. The 30-year-old was selected with the sixth pick in the 2012 draft out of Weber State. He averaged 28.8 points, 7.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game in 67 starts this season.
