Damian Lillard Trade Rumors: NBA Execs Waiting for Blazers Star to Demand Move

NBA executive reportedly believe Damian Lillard's recent public displays of affection for Portland are a calculated move to increase the trade value of CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. 

"[Lillard] goes from making these vague comments about, 'Yeah, I don’t know how long I’ll be here' like weeks before the season to suddenly 'I’m all-in,'" Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer said on The Mismatch podcast (h/t HoopsHype). "There are front-office executives around the league who think this is a strategic choice by the Blazers, Dame’s group and all that in order to create leverage for the organization because right now around the league teams just want Dame. They don’t want CJ McCollum, they don’t want Jusuf Nurkic. They’re like, 'We’re gonna wait for Dame to demand a trade.'"

Lillard has been open about his decision to not ask for a trade and remain with the Blazers, admitting he considered the idea but wants to bring a championship to Portland. LeBron James and Anthony Davis met with Lillard in Los Angeles over the summer, seemingly in an attempt to recruit him to the Lakers.

"Bron asked what I was thinking with my situation, and I told him what I’m telling you: that I just want to be in a position to win it all,” Lillard told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. “He painted the picture to me that if I were to leave, the situation could look like this. He didn’t tell me to come to L.A., and he didn’t say anything to me that I didn’t already know other than what it could look like. I told him, ‘I know if I were to play with y’all, I know it would work out because of my skill set,’ and who I am and who they are."

Lillard has spent his entire 10-year NBA career in Portland, putting together a Hall of Fame-caliber regular-season resume while his teams consistently fall short in the playoffs. The Blazers have been eliminated in the first round four of the past five seasons. They were ousted by an injury-depleted Denver Nuggets in the 2021 postseason, a loss that for a short time appeared to have Lillard considering forcing a trade.

Instead, it seems Lillard and the team are determined to retool around him, which means some mainstays could be departing sooner than later. McCollum has been Lillard's running mate for nine seasons, consistently putting up solid numbers while never making an All-Star team. His ability to shoot the ball from anywhere on the floor and work as a secondary ball-handler makes him valuable, but Portland likely has a high price.

Nurkic has been an excellent interior bruiser when healthy, but bigs who can't extend the floor lack trade value in the modern NBA.