NBA Trade Rumors: It appears that Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin is anticipating an underwhelming return in Damian Lillard trade.
It’s been more than a week since Damian Lillard officially requested a trade away from the Portland Trail Blazers. However, at least from a public perspective, there hasn’t been much progress in terms of a trade developing. It’s even harder considering Lillard did what he could to avoid an all-out bidding war on the open market, declaring and informing the front office that he only wants to be traded to the Heat.
Now that the original “shock” or “anger” from that initial development is over, it’s probably time for the Blazers to start doing their due diligence on a potential deal. If they truly want to move past this stalemate, it would be in the best interest of the Blazers (and Lillard) to figure out a resolution soon.
In a recent press conference with reporters at NBA Summer League, Blazers’ general manager didn’t exactly echo hope that a trade would materialize soon. However, something he did mention is the fact that when a trade does go down it will likely include an underwhelming return.
Blazers GM Joe Cronin on Damian Lillard's request to be traded to Heat: "As a team, you always hope that you have more options. To have limited options like that, I wouldn’t call it frustrating but it prevents you from perhaps getting the best return."
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) July 10, 2023
I don’t this is exactly groundbreaking by any means. Lillard and his camp are making it pretty clear that they only want a trade to the Heat. And it appears that other teams are indeed being scared off. The only reason why the Blazers would get an underwhelming return is if Dame’s demands are being heard around the league.
If the rest of the league is unwilling to include prime assets for Lillard, it would make sense for Cronin to begin the process of getting the fanbase to anticipate a porous return for Lillard. And with everything that was said in his press conference, that’s what stuck out most.
It would also lead us to believe that perhaps the Blazers have no other options than to begin to negotiate with the Heat (if that hasn’t already begun happening.
Either way, it seems that something is going to have to give over the next few days or weeks. Despite what Cronin has said, the Blazers can’t afford to take Lillard into training camp. This young team doesn’t need that level of circus.
The question is, will the decision-makers in the Blazers’ organization agree with that? At least for now, it feels as if Dame to Miami is happening one way or another. For one, there’s no timeline of what it could possibly get done.