NBA Rumors: Damian Lillard's preferred destination if traded

This has been Damian Lillard’s toughest season since entering the NBA. His numbers plummetted, he struggled with injuries, he felt backstabbed by local media, and the Portland Trail Blazers have failed to keep up.

The pressure keeps mounting up for a player who’s done way too much to lead his team to the playoffs. The narrative around the league is that he needs to leave if he doesn’t want to retire without a ring.

And even though Lillard has constantly shut down that narrative and has affirmed his desire to stay at RIP City, some think he could join the New York Knicks if his contract extension talks don’t go as expected.

NBA News: Knicks Could Be Damian Lillard’s Next Destination

“Most teams expect the Trail Blazers to extend Lillard for another couple of seasons at roughly $100 million, but if that goes south, the New York Knicks may be his next destination over the Sixers,” reported Eric Pinus of Bleacher Report.

Report States Lillard Would Rather Stay On The West Coast

While it’s not a secret that Lillard is fetching a massive extension in the offseason, there seem to be conflicting reports in that regard. Apparently, Lillard would much rather stay on the West Coast if he were to be traded:

“I don’t actually think that – at least nothing that I’ve heard of – has Damian Lillard insisting that it has to be Philadelphia, that he goes to. In fact, everything that I’ve heard is that he would prefer a move to the West coast or to stay on the West coast,” NBA insider Chad Ford said on Ford’s NBA Big Board.

At the end of the day, what Lillard’s future holds is anybody’s guess. But there’s no denying that he’s already outgrown the Blazers and it would be a shame to see him waste his entire career and never win an NBA championship.