NBA Trade Rumors: Exploring four ways Damian Lillard can attempt to apply more pressure on the Portland Trail Blazers to trade him.
As the Damian Lillard saga continues into late July, there’s one big question that everyone wants to know and we don’t really have an answer for it just yet – will Lillard still be a member of the Portland Trail Blazers when teams begin reporting for training camp?
In fairness, the start of training camp is still a little more than two months away. However, with no traction toward a Lillard trade, it’s becoming more and more of a possibility that Lillard could still be on the Blazers when it does arrive. And for Lillard and his camp, that has to be frustrating.
The Portland Trail Blazers are unserious about trading Damian Lillard
With everything that’s been reported between the Blazers not being motivated to negotiate with the Heat to Miami being frustrated with where talks are at the moment and teams preparing to take vacation before the start of the new season, there’s one thing that has become abundantly clear. And it’s that the Blazers don’t seem serious about trading Lillard or honoring his trade request or demand.
If that is indeed the case, and with everything that we know now, it’s hard not to jump to that conclusion, there is work to be done by the Heat. But, at the same time, you can also say that there’s work to be done by Lillard and his camp. If he truly wants to force a trade to the Heat, there are a few other steps he and his camp can take to attempt to make that happen.
Following the script of past superstar trade demands, we explore four ways Lillard can attempt to apply more pressure on the Blazers in hopes of getting to Miami.
1. Play the social media game
We’ve already seen Damian Lillard play the social media game a bit but he hasn’t really done anything drastically that would perhaps add pressure to the Portland Trail Blazers to get a deal done. In the past, we’ve seen many players do this. We’ve seen many players use social media to send a message without saying the message verbatim. This could be through song lyrics, pictures, following/unfollowing, etc. There are many different avenues for Lillard to subtly send a message without sending a message if that makes any sense.
This may be the first tactic that we see Lillard resort to if there isn’t any added traction toward a trade over the next couple of weeks. Looking at the landscape of options for Lillard, this is probably the safest and least aggressive of options that he will have at his disposal first. And if his camp believes this is an innocent way to send a message, there’s no question that Lillard should at least explore the possibility.
It’s become clear that Lillard is likely going to have to make things a bit uncomfortable. Using social media to send a cryptic message could be a good way for Lillard to test the waters a bit.
2. Do a sitdown interview
Following in the footsteps of his possible new teammate, perhaps Damian Lillard could take a page out of Jimmy Butler’s trade playbook. When Jimmy was trying to force his way out of Minnesota, he decided to do an honest and savage sitdown interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. It may not have been a magical trade button, but it certainly applied another layer of pressure on the Wolves to fulfill his trade request.
It took another month, but Jimmy was eventually traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. Maybe a sitdown interview with, say, Chris Haynes or another one of his trusted reporters is an idea that Lillard and his camp should explore. In the interview, he can clear up some things and attempt to change the narrative around his trade request.
Right now, the public perception is sided with the Blazers. Especially after it was reported that Lillard wanted to be traded to only the Heat. If he can prove that he was misled or that the front office promised him one thing and did another, there’s no question that the public perception can quickly change.
There’s much clarity and pressure that can come from a sit-down interview. Though, admittedly, it is quite risky. Especially if Lillard isn’t that interested in burning bridges with the fan base.
3. Leak (or reiterate) that he would sit out games
If Damian Lillard wanted to take applying pressure a step further, he and his camp could reiterate or leak through the media that he would sit out games if his trade request or demand wasn’t met by the Portland Trail Blazers. There have been subtle hints of what Lillard may or may not do in the event that he isn’t traded, but there hasn’t been a clear indication either way. Ultimately, the belief is, based on his character as a professional, that Lillard would not sit out games.
And that may be something the Blazers are betting on. Portland could be buying time to possibly get Lillard to either move off his trade request or be willing to play with the Blazers until his request is made. Deep down, with everything that has been reported, it would not be surprising if that was an ideal outcome for the Blazers at the moment.
If Lillard were to say (through a reporter) that he is willing to sit out games, that perhaps changes the entire complexity of this situation. I’m not saying it would force the Blazers to succumb to his every demand, but it would certainly force their hand a bit with training camp inching closer and closer.
4. Don’t report to training camp
It’s one thing to say you’re willing to sit games, it’s an entirely different thing to actually do it. If the Damian Lillard saga drags into the start of training camp, which is still more than two months away, there’s no question that at that point it’s likely going to take some real pressure to force the Blazers to do something. Not showing up for training camp would likely be the first step in accomplishing that forced pressure.
The last thing that this young Blazers team needs is an outside distraction. And that’s exactly what this Lillard situation would be for the team. There would be questions about it every day and it will be a dark cloud that will hang over this team this season.
Lillard isn’t at a point where he needs to make a mess yet. One thing that there is still available for all sides is time. There are still two months before the start of training camp. However, if there still isn’t any traction on a trade in a few weeks, it may be time for Lillard to start thinking about one or even a few of these four steps.