Damian Lillard has requested a trade away from Portland Trail Blazers after the franchise drafted him 11 seasons ago.
The seven-time NBA All-Star point guard has been the star of the Blazers franchise, but he’s now looking for a new team.
Damian Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, confirmedthat the 32-year-old star wants to go to the Miami Heat.
During a Showtimepodcast last month, Lillard revealed his admiration of the Heat. “Miami is the obvious one, and Bam [Adebayo] is my dawg, for real”, he said when talking about a potential trade.
“We have been clear that we want Dame here but he notified us today he wants out and he’d prefer to play someplace else,” Portland general manager Joe Cronin said in a statement Saturday. “What has not changed for us is that we’re committed to winning, and we are going to do what’s best for the team in pursuit of that goal.”
Damian Lillard averaged 32.2 points for the Trail Blazers. He was selected to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team — but he has never been close to a title in his 11 seasons in the league.
He has discussed with Portland many times in recent weeks, asking for the roster to be upgraded to the point where he can compete for a championship. But it seemed not to have worked to his liking, hence his request to leave.
His decision is coming on the second day of NBA free agency after Portland spend huge byreportedly retaining Jerami Grantwith a $160 million, five-year deal.
Damian Lillard didn’t have huge success with the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers only won four playoff series in his 11 seasons, making the Western Conference Finals once during that span. The team went 33-49 this past season, the second consecutive year of finishing well outside the playoff picture.
Lillard, however, became theall-time leading scorer in Blazers history, surpassing Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler for the mark, in a game in Oklahoma City in Dec. 19. He is the only player in franchise history with seven All-NBA honors and one of three players to be named All-NBA first team while with the Trail Blazers (2017-18).
He is a seven-time All-Star, the 2012-13 Kia Rookie of the Year, and a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.
Lillard is also No. 1 in 3-pointers made and attempted by a large margin as well as Portland’s all-time leader in free throws made and free throw percentage. He ranks in the team’s top five in games played (769), assists (5,151) and field goals made (6,281) and attempted (14,299).
He averaged at least 24 points per game in each of the last eight seasons, and his career averaged 25.2 ppg ranks fourth among active players (with at least 375 games) behind Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, and LeBron James.
He also won an Olympic gold medal, alongside Miami’s Bam Adebayo at the Tokyo Games.
