For years, NBA fans have talked about Damian Lillard and whether he should look to leave the Portland Trail Blazers. The team isn’t good enough to compete despite his heroics.
Lillard has been one of the best, most consistent scorers in the league for years now. He’s single-handedly led the team to the playoffs despite having a subpar supporting cast more often than not.
But even his patience has a limit. He’s hinted at potentially leaving if they fail to put together a contending team this summer, and not even having a top-3 NBA Draft pick has changed his mind about that.
Damian Lillard Is Frustrated In Portland
“I want to have an opportunity to win in Portland,” Lillard said. “Right now, we got an opportunity, asset-wise, to build a team that can compete. That would be the No. 1 thing.”
“If we can’t do that, and I have said this for months now, then it’s a separate conversation we would have to have,” he continued. “We’ve got to let things take their course and see where it lands and go from there, but it’s no guarantee that I’d play in June regardless of the situation.”
“I want to have an opportunity to win in Portland… We got an opportunity, asset-wise, to build a team that can compete. If we can’t do that… then it’s a separate conversation we would have to have” Damian Lillard on the Blazers' future (via @SHOsports)
Lillard Isn’t Sure About A Trade Either
Even so, Lillard knows that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. As tempting as a trade to a contending team could be, he knows winning depends on many factors:
“They could trade me to somewhere that we all say, ‘This is a contender.’ But I mean, how do we know if everybody’s gonna be healthy? How do we know if it’s gonna work out?” he continued.
“Like, when [Russell Westbrook] went to the Lakers, everybody was ‘Lakers!’ you know what I mean?” asked Lillard. “Then they got Russ coming off the bench like he’s not a Hall of Famer, and try to put a battery in his back, like, man, if you come off the bench, that’d be like, man, that’s Russell Westbrook. Like, what? But like, neither thing is guaranteed, you know what I mean?”
The Blazers have some tough decisions to make this summer, and Lillard will have to. He’s too good to retire without a championship, and he may finally get a chance to play for one.
