NBA Exec Predicts Damian Lillard Will Be Traded by Trail Blazers: 'The Time Has Come'

While neither the Portland Trail Blazers nor Damian Lillard will publicly admit it's time for a divorce, rival NBA teams are preparing for what they believe is an inevitable trade.

Howard Beck of GQ spoke to league executives who have consistently expressed belief Lillard will exit Portland either this summer or during next season.

"I think they will end up trading him," said an Eastern Conference executive. "The time has come."

A Western Conference executive said the Blazers and Lillard are essentially in a staring contest because neither wants to initiate the separation.

"It's a marriage of convenience, where both sides, Dame and the team, don't want to call for the divorce," one Western Conference exec said. "Both sides want it, both sides would welcome it, but neither side wants to say it, so we keep doing this dance."

The situation has, to a large swath of the NBA fanbase, become exasperating. The only two parties remaining that don't seem willing to admit trading Lillard is the best move are Dame and the Blazers.

Portland has been undergoing a passive-aggressive rebuild since trading CJ McCollum, Norman Powell, Larry Nance Jr. and Robert Covington at the 2022 deadline. While the team made a Lillard-placating move in adding Jerami Grant last offseason, it also used a lottery pick on a 19-year-old guard in Shaedon Sharpe rather than flipping the selection for a veteran player.

The Blazers doubled down on the strategy this offseason by taking Scoot Henderson—an obvious long-term Lillard replacement—with the No. 3 pick rather than making a win-now move.

Lillard, meanwhile, has openly flirted with the idea of a departure without outright asking for one. He said the Miami Heat would "obviously" be his first choice if traded during an interview on Showtime's The Last Stand.

Retaining Lillard is both a disservice to the young guards on Portland's roster and to Dame himself, given he will turn 33 next month and does not have much of a prime window left.

That said, get ready for a heaping pile of status quo until one of the two parties makes the first move.