Getty Image / Rich Schultz
When Damian Lillard finally requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers, basketball fans were expecting a deal to be put together pretty quickly.
Lillard already had a team picked out to play for next and that team and their biggest star have not hidden their interest in Lillard.
A couple of weeks into this Lillard situation, we still don’t seem all that close to a resolution.
There have already been reports that the Miami Heat are ready to offer Tyler Herro and picks in a deal. Multiple teams have been reported to be interested in becoming the 3rd team in a Lillard deal to get the Blazers the picks they want in return for Lillard.
Still, the Blazers haven’t found a deal that they like.
Recently, there have been reports that the Blazers are willing to drag things out throughout the offseason to get themselves the right deal.
Now it seems they may be ready to make Lillard wait a whole lot longer than that to finally find a new team.
According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the Blazers could end up waiting until the trade deadline to make a deal like the 76ers did with Ben Simmons if that’s what it takes to get the right offer.
Ramona Shelburne says Damian Lillard’s situation with Portland could end up like Ben Simmons’ situation with Philadelphia a few years ago
(h/t @dru_star ) pic.twitter.com/YeAIJRBYqy
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) July 11, 2023
Right now, the biggest problem seems to be that Lillard only has one team on his list of potential landing spots. If we start getting close to the end of the offseason without him having somewhere else to play, that could change.
Just opening up the possibility of more teams making a deal could be enough to get the Heat to step their offer up and get something done.
If that’s not enough, then Damian Lillard could be waiting a while to get himself to a contender.