Damian Lillard has put in his official trade request and multiple reports have indicated he wants to go to the Miami Heat. We know how these things tend to go. When a superstar wants to go to a particular team, even when he doesn't have the contractual leverage to force anyone's hand, he still almost always finds a way to that team.
That said, the Blazers have to maintain some semblance of power in this prospective deal, and though initial reports on Saturday indicated they would work to accommodate Lillard's wishes, which was to effectively say they would cooperate with the Miami agenda, they're now reportedly saying the right things in terms of keeping their options open.
"The Blazers' front office, they made it clear to teams that called about Damian Lillard yesterday that they are open for business everywhere in the league," ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Sunday.
"[Lillard] does not have a no-trade clause," Wojnarowski continued. "He does not get to control where he goes next. For Portland, they're going to go out into the marketplace and try to find the best deal they can as a combination of young players, draft picks, salary cap relief, all the things you want when a star of Damian Lillard's magnitude asks to be traded. So I think this will not be a quick process, and Miami doesn't have any advantage in trying to get a trade for Damian Lillard just because he's asking to go there."
The Trail Blazers do not plan to cooperate with Damian Lillard on his trade request to the Heat, per @wojespn:
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) July 2, 2023
- Portland “open for business everywhere in the league” on trading Lillard.
- Blazers seeking a combination of young players, draft picks and cap relief.
- Miami has… pic.twitter.com/n7y8PtaCgo
OK, so this report is technically correct. Lillard does not have a no-trade clause, and the Blazers have him under contract through 2026-27 (when he has a whopping $63.2M player option). They don't have to give him what he wants, but again, chances are, they ultimately do just that.
For now, we can all assume this is a public play to up the offer from Miami, which is obviously going to lowball Portland if it knows it has all the leverage. Tell the Heat you're looking elsewhere, get the best deal you can, then make it happen. That's still the likely result of all this.
That said, it shouldn't be. I'm firm on this, and I don't really see the argument for the other side. If you sign a contract, you sign a contract. The Blazers are paying Lillard an insane amount of money. They are not in any way beholden to his every demand, too. That organization might never again have a player as great as Lillard, so while they do, they owe it to themselves to at least receive a return package worthy of that kind of asset.
If you request a trade with four years left on your contract, you are signing up to go anywhere in the league. That includes teams worse than the Blazers. That includes lateral moves. Lillard has to know that. Chances are he doesn't. Chances are the powers behind closed doors are going to get him where he wants to go, but the Blazers are not wrong in saying they don't have to cooperate with that agenda. Even if they almost surely will in the end.
