PORTLAND, Ore. — Following a meeting Monday afternoon with superstar guard Damian Lillard and his agent, Aaron Goodwin, the Portland Trail Blazers released the following statement from general manager Joe Cronin: "I met with Dame and Aaron Goodwin this afternoon. We had a great dialogue. We remain committed to building a winner around Dame."
Neither Damian Lillard nor his agent released a statement Monday night but Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported Tuesday morning that Lillard "absolutely did not" request a trade during the meeting.
"From what I understand, the tenor of the meeting is he doesn't want to put pressure on the Blazers, that he wants to see what they do in free agency and he's going to give them time to do that," Windhorst said. "He's still not pressing, from what I've been told. He is still going to give the Blazers every opportunity to work through this free agency process this week, whether it's through trades or signing players."
Windhorst said some teams that were planning on pursuing Lillard via trade may now be forced to move forward with other plans as the offseason gets underway. NBA teams can currently make trades and begin negotiating with free agents on Friday at 3 p.m. PDT.
On Monday morning, prior to the meeting between Lillard and the Blazers, Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that nothing had "changed about Lillard's strong desire to play with the kind of high-level players that would make the Blazers contenders." Though Windhorst reported that Lillard didn't apply pressure to the Blazers front office during Monday's meeting, it's still safe to assume that Lillard wants Cronin and his staff to make trades and free-agent signings in the next few weeks that add win-now talent to Portland's roster.
In the same article, Amick wrote that "one solution that is known to be a dream scenario from Lillard's vantage point: Re-sign forward Jerami Grant and add four-time All-Star/four-time champion Draymond Green in free agency."
Signing Green as a free agent outright isn't possible; the Blazers don't have enough space under the salary cap. To pair Green with Lillard, Portland would need to acquire him via sign-and-trade and for that to happen, Green would need to want to come to Portland and Golden State would need to agree to facilitate a trade to make it happen. Amick reported that "all signs point to Green wanting to stay [with the Warriors]" and called the prospect of Green ending up in Portland "implausible."
Tuesday morning, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report reported that the Blazers are expected to make a play for Green.
Amick also mentioned Toronto Raptors forwards Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby as players the Blazers could acquire that would meet Lillard's expectations. But Amick said Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri "has continued to rebuff the many suitors" trying to trade for Siakam or Anunoby.
Perhaps Lillard is willing to stick it out in Portland with no conditions. But if he still wants "to play with the kind of high-level players that would make the Blazers contenders," as Amick reported, Cronin has his work cut out for him.
ORIGINAL STORY BELOW:
Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard will meet with the team's front office on Monday to "discuss the franchise's direction," Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT reported.
Haynes, one of the league's most well-respected reporters, has a close connection to Lillard, dating back to his time covering the Portland Trail Blazers for Comcast Sports Northwest early in Lillard's career. Haynes is often the first reporter to break news when it comes to Lillard.
Lillard will be joined by his agent, Aaron Goodwin, for Monday's meeting, Haynes said.
Since the NBA draft concluded June 22, one of the biggest story lines in the NBA has been whether Lillard will request a trade from Portland after the Blazers selected G League Ignite point guard Scoot Henderson with the third overall pick and drafted two other rookies.
On numerous occasions after the season and leading up to the draft, Lillard expressed publicly that he wanted the Blazers to add veteran talent to the roster that gives him a chance to compete for a championship. He said if Portland was going to embark on a youth movement, that wasn't his path.
"I want to have an opportunity to win in Portland. And we got an opportunity asset-wise to build a team that can compete," Lillard said during an appearance on Showtime's The Last Stand prior to the draft. "But if we can't do that, then there's a separate conversation that we would have to have. We just gotta let things take its course and see where it lands."
Earlier Monday, prior to Haynes' report, respected NBA reporter Sam Amick of The Athletic wrote that a "source said nothing has changed about Lillard's strong desire to play with the kind of high-level players that would make the Blazers contenders again. The youth movement, impressive though it might be, isn't enough."
Further, Amick said that if the two sides decide to part ways, "Lillard indeed has serious interest in joining the [Miami] Heat, who would surely love to pair him with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo."
Now, with the start of free agency just four days away, the conversation with the Blazers that Lillard has alluded to on so many occasions has finally arrived.
