Is Damian Lillard Still Planning to Leave the Portland Trail Blazers?

When news first broke of Damian Lillard's displeasure with the state of the Portland Trail Blazers, everyone expected something to happen in the offseason. Surely, Blazers brass would move heaven and earth to keep Lillard, right?

Well, now that the trade season is in full swing and many major moves have been made, we can confidently say that Portland has stayed very quiet. They re-signed Norman Powell, landed Cody Zeller, Tony Snell, and Ben McLemore. Of course they also got a new coach with Chauncey Billups but that's about it. Is that enough to satisfy Lillard and keep him playing for the team?

Speaking on the Posted Up with Chris Haynes podcast, Haynes and Vincent Goodwill spoke of the future for Lillard with Portland:

«I expect Damian Lillard to go and play for the Portland Trail Blazers. I expect him to try out this roster. I believe he wants to give Chauncey Billups a chance. And I think he's going to go there, give the roster a shot. And Portland's probably still not done. You know, I'm hearing Paul Millsap, a guy they're looking at. I'm hearing Kelly Oubre, who's still on the market, a guy that they're looking at, so they're still not done. But I expect Dame to go out there next season, play, see how things materialize, and go from there."


They also noted that there are other teams, most notably the Knicks, with its eye on Lillard in case he does decide to jump ship:

"And you brought up that New York angle, you know, from all accounts of what we're hearing, definitely, the Knicks have an eye on Damian Lillard, so we'll see what happens from there.»

So according to these reports, it sounds like Lillard will end up sticking around in Portland and see how the next season plays out. The pressure on the Blazers can't be stressed enough. If this next season doesn't go smoothly, you have to assume Lillard will be packing his bags before it's over.