Which NBA stars will be next to request a trade from their current teams?
It happens nearly every season and it’s bound to happen again during the 2021-22 NBA season. We explore seven stars that could be next in line to request a trade from their current team.
NBA stars that could request a trade next: Damian Lillard
If it weren’t for Ben Simmons, Damian Lillard would have been the most talked-about NBA player this offseason. There has been a lot of speculation around Dame’s future in Portland and for good reason too.
In fact, after being bounced from the first round of the playoffs last season, Dame posted a photo of himself in street clothes at the Moda Center and quoted rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle.
"“How long should I stay dedicated? How long til opportunity meet preparation?”"
Despite making the playoffs for eight straight seasons, the longest active streak in the NBA, the Blazers have a 22-40 (.355) record in the postseason. Portland has been bounced from the first round in five of those eight playoff appearances. They’ve made it to the Western Conference once (2019) but got swept by the Golden State Warriors who were without their best player: Kevin Durant. Despite all these playoff frustrations though, I don’t see Dame requesting out of Portland.
On a podcast with Yahoo’s Chirs Haynes, Lillard basically said that he’s not interested in forcing his way out of Portland.
"“I do want to win a championship. But there’s other stuff that means more to me. It’s almost like I’m not willing to sell myself out for that instead of impacting this.”"
More recently, during Blazers media day, Dame had this to say about the Blazers current situation and this past summer
I think over the years we’ve always had a competitive team, I think we’ll be competitive again. Obviously, at the end of last season, I wanted to see our roster improve. I wanted us to have a better chance to win. And we had our conversations throughout the summer about what that looked like, and how we could take steps in that direction. I come into this season with faith that’s going to happen.
Even though I have never met Dame — just from looking from afar — I get the impression that he is someone that tells it like it is. What I mean by that is he’s not going to lie to the media or put on a persona that’s not true to his character. Dame is himself at all times and doesn’t care what other people think of him. I genuinely think he is being honest in saying repeatedly that he doesn’t want out of Portland. For that reason, I don’t believe Lillard will force his way out. However, just like everything in the NBA, nothing can be ruled out because of THIS LEAGUE. Am I Right?