{"id":294498,"date":"2021-07-09T03:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-09T00:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/damian-lillard-doesnt-slam-door-on-trade-rumor-intrigue\/"},"modified":"2021-07-09T03:25:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T00:25:00","slug":"damian-lillard-doesnt-slam-door-on-trade-rumor-intrigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/damian-lillard-doesnt-slam-door-on-trade-rumor-intrigue\/","title":{"rendered":"#Damian Lillard doesn’t slam door on trade rumor intrigue"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Damian Lillard doesn’t slam door on trade rumor intrigue<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Trail Blazers superstar point guard Damian Lillard said Thursday any rumors he is mulling whether to ask for a trade have not come from his mouth publicly, adding Portland GM Neil Olshey knows exactly what he is thinking.<\/p>\n

However, Lillard, if he were trying to end any speculative talk about his future, was unconvincing because he declined to reveal what he has told Olshey.<\/p>\n

Speaking on a Zoom call after the U.S. Olympic practice in Las Vegas, Lillard still seemed bothered by Portland\u2019s first-round ouster, which led to his decision to join his first U.S. Olympic team.<\/p>\n

Lillard said a couple of nice things about controversial coaching hire Chauncey Billups, but also fell short of a ringing endorsement regarding the former Pistons champion point guard whose r\u00e9sum\u00e9 includes a sexual-assault allegation in 1997 settled in a civil trial.<\/p>\n

Desperate for a second star and a point guard, the Knicks are monitoring the Lillard situation to see if he becomes available in a trade. Whether Lillard has given Olshey time to upgrade the roster is unclear.<\/p>\n

\"Damian
Damian Lillard<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAt this point, there\u2019s a lot of things being said, sometimes words being put in my mouth,\u2019\u2019 Lillard said when asked if he\u2019s mulling his future as a Blazer. \u201cI haven\u2019t said anything. All the people who\u2019ve covered me since I\u2019ve been in the NBA, they know if there\u2019s something to be said or I think something and have something to say, I\u2019m going to say it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of talk. Nobody\u2019s heard me say any of these things. But anything I have to say I\u2019m going to say it directly to Neil. I\u2019m going to address it directly with my team. I don\u2019t really have nothing to say to you guys [in the media<\/a>] about it. Anything that I need to say or I feel has been said to Neil.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Yahoo\u2019s Chris Haynes, known as a Lillard confidant, reported earlier this month Lillard could still be \u201cpushed out the door\u2019\u2019 if the Blazers don\u2019t make significant roster improvements.<\/p>\n

In a Lillard trade, the Knicks don\u2019t want to have their roster ransacked but likely are willing to give up three of their future first-round picks. RJ Barrett is not considered an untouchable in a deal for a superstar, according to a source.<\/p>\n

Lillard got into a Twitter beef with Blazers fans after reports surfaced Billups was in negotiations as coach to replace Terry Stotts despite a prior sexual-assault allegation.<\/p>\n

Lillard was originally supported the move, but was defensive on Twitter, saying he was unaware of the 1997 incident.<\/p>\n

When asked Thursday whether he endorsed the move, Lillard said it wasn\u2019t his decision and seemed to distance himself from the hire.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight away when we let Terry go, I was asked about names that had been floated, I said I like JKidd [Jason Kidd], I like Chauncey,\u2019\u2019 Lillard said. \u201cAt that time, I had no idea of any of it. When I did learn of it and the process continued, I never felt it was my duty to say, \u2018Do this or don\u2019t do this.\u2019 I do my job and show up as a point guard of the team. In the past I\u2019ve never stepped on anyone\u2019s toes or demanded anything or told anyone what to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was no different in this situation. I\u2019ve known Chauncey before and never knew of that. Our organization said they did a thorough investigation and went through the process of hiring a coach in a comfortable way. That\u2019s not my decision. Or my job to say this guy is hired or not hired. This is what it is now. Here we are.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

An NBA source said Billups and Lillard are communicating regularly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a prior relationship with Chauncey on the friendship level,\u2019\u2019 Lillard said. \u201cSomeone who had a lot of success at my level, was a champion, Finals MVP. I\u2019m prepared to go in and do my job every year as I always do. Hopefully we make strides in a positive direction and become a better team with a new coach.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Lillard still has a \u201csour taste\u2019\u2019 in his mouth from a first-round ouster to Denver, which was missing star Jamal Murray and key piece Will Barton. Lillard admitted he chose to compete in the Olympics to get his mind off the first-round exit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expected us to have a great solid run in playoffs and it ended being cut short,\u2019\u2019 Lillard said. \u201cThe fact the season wasn\u2019t extended for me \u2014 and on top of not being extended, there was a sour taste in my mouth after losing so early against a team that was beat up and injured. I expected to win that series<\/a>. It gave me that itch to go back in and play and have a chance to win and not have to sit around a full summer thinking about what went wrong.\u2019\u2019\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Damian Lillard doesn’t slam door on trade rumor intrigue” Trail Blazers superstar point guard Damian Lillard said Thursday any rumors he is mulling whether to ask for a trade have not come from his mouth publicly, adding Portland GM Neil Olshey knows exactly what he is thinking. However, Lillard, if he were trying to end…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":294499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/07\/Damian-Lillard.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[111394,110695,95567,3674,90735],"class_list":["post-294498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-7-8-21","tag-chauncey-billups","tag-damian-lillard","tag-nba","tag-portland-trail-blazers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}