PORTLAND, Ore. – Neil Olshey responded to rumors that Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard may soon be a Los Angeles Laker.
The Blazers’ president of basketball operations was asked about Lillard during Friday morning’s press conference, where he and coach Terry Stotts introduced the team’s new free-agent signings, Seth Curry and Nik Stauskas. Watch the full press conference
Rumors of the Lakers’ interest in Lillard have been spreading on social media after NBA writer Chris Sheridan reported Lakers executives were exploring a number of trade options, including potentially targeting Lillard.
When asked if he paid any attention to the Lillard-to-Los Angeles talk, Olshey chuckled and said it was “much ado about nothing.”
“As much as I love LeBron, the NBA isn't his personal game at Rucker. So he doesn't get to pick his teammates. That's not how it works,” Olshey said.
“Damian’s out there working. Damian is here. Damian has three years left on his contract. This isn’t the world of ‘let’s just send a couple of texts out on a string and see who wants to run with us,’ this is the NBA. We have a collective bargaining agreement. We have contracts for players. We have people committed to organizations.
“One of the nice things about being up in Portland is we’re not in that media maelstrom down there, but clearly there are myths that some of our broadcast partners like to perpetuate because it is clickbait and it brings viewers but at the end of the day it’s all much ado about nothing.”
On Wednesday, Lillard was asked on Twitter about the speculation. The Blazers star guard responded, "I'm typically a happy camper."