Bucks' Damian Lillard: 'I See There Being a Time' I Play for Blazers Again

Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard may have requested a trade from the Trail Blazers during the offseason, but the veteran point guard can see himself returning to Portland in the future.

"I see there being a time where I play for the Trail Blazers," Lillard said, according to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. "But it won't be right now. I play for the Bucks. To accomplish what we want to accomplish, you've got to be all in on that. And I was traded and I'm all in to try to accomplish that here."

Lillard is preparing to play in Portland on Wednesday night for the first time since being traded to the Bucks in a blockbuster October deal that also included multiple first-round picks, Deandre Ayton, Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic, among others.

"The Blazers just weren't in a time where winning a championship was possible or what was able to be done at the time," Lillard said of moving on from the team that drafted him. "While I'm my best self, I want to be able to play for that."

When Lillard requested the trade, he made it clear that his ideal destination was the Miami Heat.

After months of rumors linking Lillard to Miami, no deal came to fruition between the two sides, and the Trail Blazers took the best deal they could get in exchange for the seven-time All-Star, which came from the Bucks.

Following the deal that sent Lillard to Milwaukee, he admitted to Melissa Rohlin of Fox Sports that Jimmy Butler had a lot to do with his desire to play for the Heat.

While the Trail Blazers have struggled to a 14-33 record this season and sit 14th in the Western Conference, Lillard is on a legitimate championship contender with the Bucks, which are second in the Eastern Conference with a 32-15 record.

Lillard isn't close to averaging the numbers he did in Portland last season—32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists—but he isn't under nearly as much pressure as he's sharing the scoring load with two-time Giannis Antetokounmpo this year.

The 33-year-old is averaging 25.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 44 games while shooting 42.2 percent from the floor and 34.7 percent from deep.

Milwaukee recently fired first-year head coach Adrian Griffin amid defensive struggles and replaced him with Doc Rivers, who made his debut with the Bucks on Monday in a 113-107 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Rivers will be looking to get his first win with the Bucks on Wednesday against the Trail Blazers in what is expected to be an emotional night for Lillard.

"I think it will be emotional because I care," Lillard said. "I loved playing in Portland. I loved living there and still live there. I'm not like a big crier. I don't think I'll be crying, and all of that. But I care. Everything I ever said about my time in Portland playing there, I meant that s--t. So, yeah, it will be."