Damian Lillard Trade Rumors: Blazers PG, Agent Warned of Discipline over Heat Demand
Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard and his agent, Aaron Goodwin, have made it clear the seven-time All-Star wants a trade to the Miami Heat, and that was made public on July 6 in comments made to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
On Friday, the NBA sent a memo to all 30 teams that stated that it has "advised Goodwin and Lillard that any future comments, made privately to teams or publicly, suggesting Lillard will not fully perform the services called for under his player contract in the event of a trade will subject Lillard to discipline by the NBA."
Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report posted the text of the memo:
The memo states that "Goodwin denied stating or indicating to any team that Lillard would refuse to play for them."
Lillard has asked out of Portland after a stellar 11-year career in Portland, which included eight playoff appearances and a Western Conference Finals berth in 2019. He just averaged a career-high 32.2 points per game.
However, the Blazers have fallen on hard times of late, and it's understandable for Lillard to want to move on to a contender like Miami, which just reached the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed.
The Heat and Blazers don't appear to be good trade partners, with the former team offering guard Tyler Herro to headline a package and the latter team not appearing interested.
Blazers general manager Joe Cronin has said he's willing to wait "months" for a resolution that's best for his team, so this saga could be far from over.
