Damian Lillard Trade Rumors: Blazers 'Going to Be Open to Every Possibility' for Star

The Portland Trail Blazers intend to evaluate the entire trade landscape for star guard Damian Lillard, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojarowski.

Wojnarowski reported Saturday on SportsCenter the Blazers will "do what's best for the organization" and are "gonna be open to every possibility."

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Saturday that Lillard wanted out and indicated to Portland he hopes to land with the Miami Heat. Wojnarowski and colleague Ramona Shelburne also reported the Trail Blazeers were "expected to work to accommodate him."

For some, that carried an implication Portland would do its best to send Lillard to Miami. However, general manager Joe Cronin said Saturday the Blazers are "committed to winning" and will "do what's best for the team in pursuit of that goal."

The trouble for Lillard is that the Heat may not be able to put the best trade offer together among the suitors that can realistically pursue the seven-time All-Star.

The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor floated a hypothetical deal that saw Lillard and Jusuf Nurkić go to Miami for Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jović, two first-round picks and a 2029 pick swap. O'Connor proceeded to call it "one of the worst trades in NBA history."

"There's no big lump of draft picks like the Nets received for Kevin Durant or the Jazz did for Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, and no key young players like the Pelicans got for Anthony Davis or the Thunder got for Paul George," he said.

Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer already reported the Blazers have pursued avenues to route Herro to a third team. At 23, Herro would fit with their timeline, but his four-year, $120 million contract may not be something Cronin wants to take on as he's starting a rebuild.

Even though Lillard's desires are now out in the open, Portland maintains some leverage.

The 32-year-old is still under contract for at least three more seasons, so any team acquiring him doesn't have to worry about him hitting free agency anytime soon.

Unlike Bradley Beal, Lillard can't tilt the scales in his favor by virtue of having a no-trade clause, either. Beal had the Washington Wizards over a barrel from the moment he got that clause inserted into his contract.

The Los Angeles Clippers pulled out all the stops to convince Blake Griffin to re-sign in 2017, only to turn around and trade him to the Detroit Pistons months later. The front office didn't let sentiment get in the way of accepting the best offer.

Maybe the Blazers will be similarly pragmatic with Lillard.