Damian Lillard Commits to Blazers: 'I'm Not Going to Jump Ship' During Adversity

You can shut down the rumor mill right now. Damian Lillard isn't going anywhere.

The Portland Trail Blazers guard reaffirmed his commitment to the franchise Tuesday, saying he has no plans to request a trade.

“I’m not leaving Portland. ... Adversity is going to hit, there’s going to be tough times. So if it starts off rocky or if it starts out as a struggle I won’t be happy about it, nobody would. But I’m not going to jump ship and bail out when that happens," Lillard told reporters.

Lillard added that he wanted to be part of the future with the franchise under coach Chauncey Billups, who took over this summer amid controversy over a rape allegation made against him during his playing career.

The All-Star guard sounds far more committed now than he did earlier this summer, when it was clear the frustration of postseason shortcomings was weighing heavily on his mind. Portland has lost in the first round four of the last five seasons.

The most recent postseason failure led to the departure of longtime coach Terry Stotts and to the rumor mill reigniting with speculation on Lillard's future. Lillard has been open about his desire to compete for a championship and the Blazers have no obvious path to legitimate contention, though injuries to Jamal Murray and Kawhi Leonard make this year's Western Conference potentially wide open.

Lillard has likely spent the offseason weighing his desire to compete with his loyalty to the Blazers franchise, which may be the strongest player-team bond in the NBA; only Stephen Curry has a legitimate argument for being more identified with one team than Lillard.

Loyalty appears to have won out for now. Lillard clearly isn't going to go full Ben Simmons in a push to get out of Portland, so his comments are what needed to be said at the moment. However, if Billups shows real growing pains as a coach, it'll be interesting to see if there's any wavering on Lillard's part.