NBA Trade Rumors: Taking a closer look at three things we learned from Damian Lillard’s sit-down interview with ESPN’s Marc Spears.
Nearly two months after the initial trade demand, Damian Lillard finally broke his silence on the issue. Or, to a certain extent he has. In a sit-down interview with ESPN’s Marc Spears, Lillard all but confirmed his desire to be traded away from the Portland Trail Blazers
You can listen or read to the full interview here.
As we dive into the interview, let’s explore a few of the biggest revelations that we can gather from both Lillard’s words and his body language.
3 Revelations from Damian Lillard’s sit-down interview
Damian Lillard confirms his trade request to the Miami Heat
When pressed on his feelings toward the Blazers, Lillard refused to comment much. He did say he has a lot of “love” and “respect” for the organization. But not much other than that. What he did confirm, though, is the fact that he did in fact request a trade at the start of the offseason. If there was any uncertainty about where Lillard stood a little more than a month before the start of NBA Training Camps, that is now gone.
Lillard wants to be traded and that is still very much the case. That was abundantly clear throughout this interview. So much for the Blazers being able to persuade Lillard to move off his trade demand. It’s pretty clear that the ship has sailed on that possibility.
The relationship between the Portland Trail Blazers, Damian Lillard is not in a good place
One other big revelation that emerged from this sit-down interview between Damian Lillard and ESPN’s Marc Spears is that it’s now clear the relationship between Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers is probably not in a good place. The really interesting part of all this is the reason why. Is it just because Lillar hasn’t been traded yet? Is it because of something that took place before the trade demand this offseason? Something that happened during the season?
It’s hard to predict exactly why, but with his non-comment comment, it was clear that Lillard didn’t want to say anything to get him in trouble. And his cadence and body language when being asked about the Blazers was not great. Even when he said he had “love” and “respect” for the Blazers, it was almost unbelievable with the way he said it.
If I had to guess, it’s the fact that Lillard has felt lied to for the past few seasons and he now has a feeling that he’s wasted years of his prime. And the fact that the Blazers haven’t traded him to his preferred destination nearly two months into his trade demand can’t make any of that any better.
Lillard and the Blazers aren’t seeing eye-to-eye right now. If that wasn’t clear before, it is now.
Damian Lillard really, really wants to get to Miami
There’s a lot that we can gather from Damian Lillard’s body language in this interview. Especially when he’s asked about his trade request and when he was questioned about the Portland Trail Blazers. He was short, calculated, and his demeanor changed quickly to one that would suggest he’s frustrated with this entire process.
Here’s what Spears adds in the written portion of the story to hammer home his desire to be traded to the Heat:
"Sources say Lillard is also attracted to the renowned “Heat Culture,” consistent winning at a high level, franchise stability, no state taxes and marketing opportunities."
Gathering all the information from this interview, from Lillard’s confirmation of the trade request and his body language and cadence throughout the portion in which he’s asked about the Blazers, it’s clear he wants to be traded and traded now. In other words, he wants to ensure that he’s traded to the Heat. That is echoed throughout the portion in which he speaks about his desire to win a championship. In his mind, he believes that the best place for him to do that is in Miami.
This was the next natural step for Lillard. The question is whether or not this is a move that will push Portland to try to get a deal done with Miami. That very much remains to be seen.