Report: Lillard requests trade

[radiohead]

I never thought Lillard could be this unreasonable. I mean it’s ok to ask to be traded, but at least give Portland a list of 4-5 teams. Saying Miami or nothing reminds me of AD forcing his way to the Lakers.

[Who]

Portland only have themselves to blame for this situation. Years of mismanagement.

I mean, if the situation was Dame requesting a trade and the Blazers simply refusing to honor it, then, sure, you can put this mostly on Portland. But that’s not what Dane is doing. He’s trying to extort them and have them trade him to a single destination that simply doesn’t have the assets to trade for him. How is it Portland’s fault for looking out for their own self-interests and not just succumbing to this demand?  The GM and team are doing their duties, as their obligations are to the team, owners, and fans, not Lillard.

The Blazrs are free to look after their own self-interest.

So too is Damian Lillard. His interest is getting to a team that he wants to be on.

[Who]

I never thought Lillard could be this unreasonable. I mean it’s ok to ask to be traded, but at least give Portland a list of 4-5 teams. Saying Miami or nothing reminds me of AD forcing his way to the Lakers.

Or KD forcing his way to Phoenix.

I do not understand why the reaction is so much worse for Lillard than it was for those guys.

[RJ87]

I never thought Lillard could be this unreasonable. I mean it’s ok to ask to be traded, but at least give Portland a list of 4-5 teams. Saying Miami or nothing reminds me of AD forcing his way to the Lakers.

Or KD forcing his way to Phoenix.

I do not understand why the reaction is so much worse for Lillard than it was for those guys.

AD didn't specify the Lakers, they were the top of his list but he also named the Knicks and the Heat as possibilities, IIRC.

And with KD, he asked the Nets to keep the request private so they could at least maintain some leverage (and they got a haul).

[bdm860]

Portland only have themselves to blame for this situation. Years of mismanagement.

I mean, if the situation was Dame requesting a trade and the Blazers simply refusing to honor it, then, sure, you can put this mostly on Portland. But that’s not what Dane is doing. He’s trying to extort them and have them trade him to a single destination that simply doesn’t have the assets to trade for him. How is it Portland’s fault for looking out for their own self-interests and not just succumbing to this demand?  The GM and team are doing their duties, as their obligations are to the team, owners, and fans, not Lillard.

The Blazrs are free to look after their own self-interest.

So too is Damian Lillard. His interest is getting to a team that he wants to be on.

I'm with you on this.  The blame lies with Portland.

They're the big bank that failed and now looking for a corporate bail out.

3 of the last 4 years they've had losing records.  They weren't winning with their aging superstar.

Despite losing (and no real paths to success) they extended his contract in '22 adding on those crazy '26 and '27 years ($121m for 2 years at 35 and 36!).

Portland waited until he became disgruntled to try to move him.

It's on Portland to both see the writing on the wall (the team not being good and Lillard eventually wanting out) and to trade him when he has the most value.  They could have traded Lillard before the draft, at the trade deadline, last offseason, before his extension, etc. and been in a much better position.

What's Portland's haul if they don't extend Lillard last offseason (so his contract would be through at least '24 with a player option in '25) and traded him sometime between the '22 trade deadline and before he asked out?

It's on Portland to manage their assets,  not for other teams to bail them out, or for their assets (the players) to make sure Portland gets top value for them.

[kraidstar]

I never thought Lillard could be this unreasonable. I mean it’s ok to ask to be traded, but at least give Portland a list of 4-5 teams. Saying Miami or nothing reminds me of AD forcing his way to the Lakers.

Or KD forcing his way to Phoenix.

I do not understand why the reaction is so much worse for Lillard than it was for those guys.

Because Lillard wants to go to a single team that has some of the worst tradeable assets in the entire league.

It's unreasonable. Why are other contenders unacceptable to him? There is no language in his contract alluding to him choosing a destination. It sets a terrible precedent. What if Miami colludes with Lillard and they offer Lowry's expiring contract with no picks? Why shouldn't they? If Lillard is willing to fake injuries etc for leverage, an expiring is better than a bloated tax bill with no cap space.

Miami might as well try. If Lillard isn't going to honor his contract for anyone but Miami, an expiring contract is all he is worth. To me, that is a massive problem for the league.

Imagine if Brown pulled this stunt 12 months from now.

[kraidstar]

Portland only have themselves to blame for this situation. Years of mismanagement.

I mean, if the situation was Dame requesting a trade and the Blazers simply refusing to honor it, then, sure, you can put this mostly on Portland. But that’s not what Dane is doing. He’s trying to extort them and have them trade him to a single destination that simply doesn’t have the assets to trade for him. How is it Portland’s fault for looking out for their own self-interests and not just succumbing to this demand?  The GM and team are doing their duties, as their obligations are to the team, owners, and fans, not Lillard.

The Blazrs are free to look after their own self-interest.

So too is Damian Lillard. His interest is getting to a team that he wants to be on.

I'm with you on this.  The blame lies with Portland.

They're the big bank that failed and now looking for a corporate bail out.

3 of the last 4 years they've had losing records.  They weren't winning with their aging superstar.

Despite losing (and no real paths to success) they extended his contract in '22 adding on those crazy '26 and '27 years ($121m for 2 years at 35 and 36!).

Portland waited until he became disgruntled to try to move him.

It's on Portland to both see the writing on the wall (the team not being good and Lillard eventually wanting out) and to trade him when he has the most value.  They could have traded Lillard before the draft, at the trade deadline, last offseason, before his extension, etc. and been in a much better position.

What's Portland's haul if they don't extend Lillard last offseason (so his contract would be through at least '24 with a player option in '25) and traded him sometime between the '22 trade deadline and before he asked out?

It's on Portland to manage their assets,  not for other teams to bail them out, or for their assets (the players) to make sure Portland gets top value for them.

Of course Portland screwed up. They have been floundering for decades.

That doesn't mean Lillard is off the hook for his actions though.

[Who]

Imagine if Brown pulled this stunt 12 months from now.

Why? They are not being mismanaged and run into the ground. This almost exclusively happens to teams that are badly mismanaged and struggling.

If BOS were being mismanaged and run into the ground, I would support Jaylen in his desire to leave and look forward to BOS getting to rebuild properly and right their floundering team.

[Neurotic Guy]

Portland only have themselves to blame for this situation. Years of mismanagement.

I mean, if the situation was Dame requesting a trade and the Blazers simply refusing to honor it, then, sure, you can put this mostly on Portland. But that’s not what Dane is doing. He’s trying to extort them and have them trade him to a single destination that simply doesn’t have the assets to trade for him. How is it Portland’s fault for looking out for their own self-interests and not just succumbing to this demand?  The GM and team are doing their duties, as their obligations are to the team, owners, and fans, not Lillard.

The Blazrs are free to look after their own self-interest.

So too is Damian Lillard. His interest is getting to a team that he wants to be on.

I'm with you on this.  The blame lies with Portland.

They're the big bank that failed and now looking for a corporate bail out.

3 of the last 4 years they've had losing records.  They weren't winning with their aging superstar.

Despite losing (and no real paths to success) they extended his contract in '22 adding on those crazy '26 and '27 years ($121m for 2 years at 35 and 36!).

Portland waited until he became disgruntled to try to move him.

It's on Portland to both see the writing on the wall (the team not being good and Lillard eventually wanting out) and to trade him when he has the most value.  They could have traded Lillard before the draft, at the trade deadline, last offseason, before his extension, etc. and been in a much better position.

What's Portland's haul if they don't extend Lillard last offseason (so his contract would be through at least '24 with a player option in '25) and traded him sometime between the '22 trade deadline and before he asked out?

It's on Portland to manage their assets,  not for other teams to bail them out, or for their assets (the players) to make sure Portland gets top value for them.

I don’t know enough about Portland’s specific history of mismanagement to comment on the degree of their own contribution to the current situation, but short of a dominant, top 5 player coming to town, most smaller market, less desirable location teams have a lot of trouble building a contender.  As good as DL is, he’s not LBJ, Giannis, etc.  So just not being able to build a contender around him doesn’t qualify to me as reason for Damian to stick it to his team.  He has a right to - he’s free to - but just because you can doesn’t mean you should. And I’m not talking about asking for a trade, that’s not a big deal - this is about a trade demand and then subsequently limiting Portland’s ability to get fair trade value. 

I really can’t see any way Lillard is not more in the wrong here.  He will get away with it and get what he wants; Portland will be forced out of maximizing value in the trade and a big market/ desirable location will get the better of Portland.

[jpotter33]

I never thought Lillard could be this unreasonable. I mean it’s ok to ask to be traded, but at least give Portland a list of 4-5 teams. Saying Miami or nothing reminds me of AD forcing his way to the Lakers.

Or KD forcing his way to Phoenix.

I do not understand why the reaction is so much worse for Lillard than it was for those guys.

AD didn't specify the Lakers, they were the top of his list but he also named the Knicks and the Heat as possibilities, IIRC.

And with KD, he asked the Nets to keep the request private so they could at least maintain some leverage (and they got a haul).

Exactly this. Demanding to go to a team where you can still get a good trade package is perfectly fine and reasonable, and I don’t think anyone would be upset with that. But demanding to go to a team where you can not get a sufficient trade package is unreasonable. He gave up that very right by taking the long-term contract. That’s on him and he needs to live with his decisions now.

Dame is doing literally everything he can to harm his trade value and screw over his team. I don’t understand how people are defending him in this, especially when he was so critical of other stars of “running from the grind”. His reputation will deservingly take a major hit after this fiasco.

[kraidstar]

Imagine if Brown pulled this stunt 12 months from now.

Why? They are not being mismanaged and run into the ground. This almost exclusively happens to teams that are badly mismanaged and struggling.

If BOS were being mismanaged and run into the ground, I would support Jaylen in his desire to leave and look forward to BOS getting to rebuild properly and right their floundering team.

I think we're arguing two different things. I have no problem with a player wanting to leave a dead-end team. Jaylen included.

It's the ultimatum about a single trade destination when there are numerous places Lillard could go and contend. The implication that he will not fully honor his contract unless the Blazers accept a truly terrible trade to Miami. You mentioned a team dumping its star so that they can stop floundering and rebuild. Getting saddled with Herro's crap contract does not help there. Getting few or no picks does not help.

If Portland accepts Miami's pupu platter offer it will be the worst return for a superstar in modern history. On the flipside, with some compromise here both sides will win.

[Neurotic Guy]

I never thought Lillard could be this unreasonable. I mean it’s ok to ask to be traded, but at least give Portland a list of 4-5 teams. Saying Miami or nothing reminds me of AD forcing his way to the Lakers.

Or KD forcing his way to Phoenix.

I do not understand why the reaction is so much worse for Lillard than it was for those guys.

AD didn't specify the Lakers, they were the top of his list but he also named the Knicks and the Heat as possibilities, IIRC.

And with KD, he asked the Nets to keep the request private so they could at least maintain some leverage (and they got a haul).

Exactly this. Demanding to go to a team where you can still get a good trade package is perfectly fine and reasonable, and I don’t think anyone would be upset with that. But demanding to go to a team where you can not get a sufficient trade package is unreasonable. He gave up that very right by taking the long-term contract. That’s on him and he needs to live with his decisions now.

Dame is doing literally everything he can to harm his trade value and screw over his team. I don’t understand how people are defending him in this, especially when he was so critical of other stars of “running from the grind”. His reputation will deservingly take a major hit after this fiasco.

I don’t get the defense of Lillard either. I think we’re ALL saying requesting a trade is fine - it’s the exclusivity that binds Portland that is unfair.  Portland can’t counter - the market’s been screwed for them by the guy they signed for 250M.   

And with all the “mismanagement” … I assume that didn’t start 6 months ago.  Lillard didn’t have to sign such a lucrative deal with such a poorly run organization.  I guess it was ok that they were poorly run when they were offering 250M.

[Who]

So with the Celtics not willing to give up Jaylen for Lillard and the Wolves not willing to give up Towns for Lillard, is there anyone left who might give up a star for Lillard?

I see no-one stepping up and being willing to give up that type of value for a 33yo PG who will be earning $50-60mil a year over the next few years. 

[celticinorlando]

Celtics don’t want to give up brown because I have a feeling Brad wants to move him next year for someone else

[gouki88]

So with the Celtics not willing to give up Jaylen for Lillard and the Wolves not willing to give up Towns for Lillard, is there anyone left who might give up a star for Lillard?

I see no-one stepping up and being willing to give up that type of value for a 33yo PG who will be earning $50-60mil a year over the next few years.

Zion?