Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10091305-inside-the-messy-divorce-between-damian-lillard-and-portland-trail-blazers
#Damian Lillard:
> Since July, the Portland Trail Blazers had refused to engage with the Miami Heat, the preferred destination Lillard requested when he asked for a trade on July 1 from the Blazers.
> “How this summer played out behind the scenes definitely left a sour taste in my mouth,” Lillard told B/R. “But it doesn’t change the amazing experiences I’ve had with the Trail Blazers and this city. I’ll always cherish this place. This is my home. I’ll always live here regardless.”
> The Heat say they never had a legitimate opportunity to negotiate. Throughout the process, they felt Portland allowed emotions to get in the way of business. Lillard’s camp believed it had become personal.
> Frustrated with the lack of suitable offers, sources say the Trail Blazers ceased all communication with Lillard and Goodwin in early September. Portland’s rationale for keeping them in the dark was to prevent Goodwin from sabotaging potential deals behind the scenes.
> Lillard then said if a deal couldn’t be worked out with the Heat, he would prefer to rescind his trade request and return to the Trail Blazers.
> Cronin’s response to the seven-time All-Star was that there was no coming back.
> At the end of the session, Cronin promised to do a better job communicating. In the days ahead, Cronin and Goodwin started communicating again.
> “My whole life I’ve been on underdog teams and if we had a good season, we overachieved. Now I’ll be able to play with a player that’s better than me and to be a part of a great overall team is a dream come true,” Lillard told B/R. “That’s never been my experience. It’s time for me to be in this situation. And knowing myself enough, I’m going to take advantage of it. I’m excited for this opportunity.”
#Giannis Antetokounmpo:
> For Milwaukee, it’s all about giving Giannis Antetokounmpo the best possible shot at another championship. Antetokounmpo spoke to B/R about losing Holiday and acquiring a new star teammate in Lillard.
“Jrue is my f–king brother for life. I love his family. I love him. I appreciate him. I wish him nothing but the best. He blessed me with a f–king championship,” Antetokounmpo told B/R. “He’s the one who made that huge steal in Game 5 of the Finals. I went to battle with him multiple times. F–k basketball. F–k the media shit. This guy is my brother for life, and it’s always going to be like that. He’s going to thrive wherever he ends up.
> “Now at the same time, I’m excited to have Dame. He gives us a chance to win a championship. I’m excited to play with the caliber of player that he is. He can score the ball in his sleep and shoot the lights out.
> “It’s a bittersweet day for the city of Milwaukee. You get Dame, who is a great player, but you lose a great guy. Jrue took us to the promised land. I’m 10 years in now. I know it’s a business. At the end of the day, Jrue will alway be be my brother for life. He’s one of the best human beings I’ve been around. But we’ve got to focus on the goal to win the championship. Dame wants this. He’s hungry to win, and he’s going to push us. I’m very happy to have him on our team.”
#Ending:
> When the deal was announced, one of the first text messages Lillard received was from Antetokounmpo.
It read, “Let’s get this f–king championship.” That’s all Lillard ever wanted.
by UnbiasedNBAFan_
41 Comments
He was on a supermax with no no trade clause, the person who signed his current contract is Damian Lillard, so if he’s supposed to be mad at one person, it’s Damian Lillard
My brother in christ, **you** caused things to play out that way.
Cry me a river, dude. The Heat weren’t owed anything and Dame was sent to play with a recent MVP who won a title two years ago. We didn’t screw him over. We improved his situation a million fold.
>In the Sept. 5 meeting, Cronin conveyed that if he was forced to do a deal with Miami, he had every intention of going after every attractable asset. Lillard knew then he was unlikely to end up in Miami.
>Lillard then said if a deal couldn’t be worked out with the Heat, he would prefer to rescind his trade request and return to the Trail Blazers.
>Cronin’s response to the seven-time All-Star was that there was no coming back.
bro got kicked out
put in his 2 weeks, tried to change his mind, “we already replaced you”
> Cronin’s response to the seven-time All-Star was that there was no coming back.
I think that’s perfectly reasonable
I think Miami has to regret how things played out and the strategy they used
“In the Sept. 5 meeting, Cronin conveyed that if he was forced to do a deal with Miami, he had every intention of going after every attractable asset. Lillard knew then he was unlikely to end up in Miami.”
Can’t blame Pat for not giving up “every attractable asset”
Dame just posted his farewell message to Portland, super long, addresses everyone and clearly came from the heart and a good place. I have no idea why this sub has completely turned on him. Seems like a decent guy and gave everything for the city. He even apologized for any miscommunication this summer, I feel like all of it is really overblown anyway.
the story of a GM doing his job
Seems this is the first public comment from giannis
Lillard got sent to the best possible basketball situation for him. He needs to stop playing the victim now.
Imagine the sour taste of the team who gave you a supermax only to have you demand they trade you one season in to only one team regardless of what that team has to offer while your agent attempted to sabotage any other deals. Now that’s a sour taste.
It is interesting that Dame was just going to go back to the Blazers. They can’t have you back now, dude. You’ll be demanding a trade at every opportunity.
Cronin def a salty cracker that’s kinda wild
Unrelated entirely but reading Giannis’ segment I’m surprised how much he curses in interviews. Feels like its added in lol
This article just shows how incompetent lillard and his agent are. If they told portland “i just want the heat” privately – but i’lll let you negotiate the best deal and use other teams as leverage – they would have honored him.
Instead they tried being cute and sabotaged any deal from the jump by misusing the public “one team only” power play which fucked up the market. It’s honestly hilarious how inept you have to be to be a “loyal” superstar of dame’s caliber and still fuck up getting your trade destination. Him and his agent butt fumbled their way out of getting what they wanted
If Dame won and ended up in Miami, it would have set a terrible precedent. Stars would be able to force their way to one city for peanuts and leave their old organizations in ruins due to bad trades. Kudos to the Blazers for standing up and helping to keep order in the league.
> Lillard then said if a deal couldn’t be worked out with the Heat, he would prefer to rescind his trade request and return to the Trail Blazers.
>
> Cronin’s response to the seven-time All-Star was that there was no coming back.
Good on the Blazers.
Dame wanted to come back and Cronin said no?
I would have just held off until a random team gave a much better trade when the issue blew over and traded him without him knowing. Still preserve the tank and get more assets. But damn
Cronin told the best player in blazers history to fuck off lol what a guy
cool. keep talking down to other players for years only to run from the grind when you realize you aren’t gonna win a title in your career. you only realized it a decade after the rest of us did.
It fucking sucks that they did that to Dame, but it was probably the right cal for the franchise. You don’t want that looming over your new star. Dame’s right to be pissed though. Just a sad end.
Haynes tried to make Portland look bad on Dame’s behalf and it didn’t work
Why did you get you agent to make a public mess? Be pissed at your agent my guy. This sucks
Dame fumbled this situation so badly. I can imagine he divided the Portland fanbase throughout this process, and now he’s trying to shift blame to the FO. Such a messy situation he forced on everyone yet hes playing the victim card
Sour taste…blame your agent or yourself. The hardball strategy of declaring one destination only, so publicly, clearly backfired.
Dame said he’d rather stay in Portland and Cronin really replied wit a “No takesies backsies”
This is a great piece of reporting that is worth reading, not just pulling out quotes. I think the Dame and Giannis quotes stand out to most to me though – Dame saying he’s playing with a guy better than him for the first time ever, and Giannis pumping up Jrue while pushing Dame to come win a championship with him.
Well of course the Blazers stopped talking to Lillard’s agent. They annihilated his trade value by making the “Miami only” request, and then as we also found out today, secretly also would have been fine with Milwaukee and Brooklyn. That is absolutely going to hamstring Portland’s negotiating position to make something equitable happen. Request a trade fine, I’m fully behind his doing that and I even supported it considering how the winds were blowing, but once he makes public demands beyond simply wanting to leave it harms the chances of it happening quickly and in a way that makes everybody happy. Just common sense to keep your cards close at a certain point.
I love Dame, but shoutout Joe Cronin. Very inexperienced GM didn’t let himself get pushed around by Dame’s public statements and Pat Riley to honestly make a deal that sets them up for 3-5 years of quality rebuild resources.
If he wanted to dictate where he got traded, he should have gotten a no trade clause in his contract extension. Not gonna feel bad for the guy who forced his way out but couldn’t control where he went.
“For approximately three weeks, calls and texts to the Trail Blazers from Lillard and Goodwin went unanswered.”
lmao that’s wild.
I’m sure he’s a decent enough human being, but man, this dude is exhausting.
can’t beat the running from the grind accusations
> Damn, sounds like Lillard got played by the Blazers. But hey, at least he’s still getting paid and living in Portland. Can’t beat that home court advantage.
> Giannis better watch out for Dame though, dude’s a beast on the court. Championship or bust now.
Dame whining every hour on the hour has left a sour taste in my mouth. Was riding with him when he wanted out of Portland after being loyal to them all these years, but dudes straight bitching non-stop now.
Poor guy can’t even demand a trade to the team of his choice
That’s what happens when you demand a trade with years on your contract.
Dame was a guy most people would have been happy to see win a chip.
How quickly things change.
Chris Haynes is a Dame mouthpiece.
Dame Lillard and his flock of nephews can go kick rocks somewhere off an abandoned highway off to the side.
WTH?!
“A sour taste in your mouth??”
How was it personal for not wanting to trade Dame for Herro and some picks. Miami didn’t want to offer more, while knowing that the situation and time is in their favour. Not that they had any assets to deal with to begin with. What the heck did Dame expect? That the team would just take a huge cut on the trade value just because?
It left a bitter taste in my mouth after Lillard preaching loyalty throughout almost a century only to leave with a trade request that tanked his value to the level of an OK-ish player and 2picks from a team that has never drafted high in the last how many years.
Now all is well, Portland got value and Dame (I guess) is happy with his destination. But please don’t tarnish your image any further Dame, I really want to keep liking you.
It’s almost like teams don’t have to cater to terms that make desired market teams better.