If you live in Portland, you’ve most definitely heard that Damian Lillard has requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard is coming off a season in which he averaged a career high of 32.2 points in 58 games before being benched for the rest of the season in March to prevent him from getting injured. Since the initial request to be traded, the situation got more complicated when Lillard’s agent told teams he would only play for the Miami Heat. This was ignored by the Trail Blazers as Lillard would be traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three team trade with the Phoenix Suns.
Many wondered how the Blazers would handle this conflict, with extensive debate about what to do and what would happen. “The organization is in such a difficult position with the Damian Lillard situation. This is a guy who has completely shaped their franchise and represented the city with class for the last 10 years… he’s 33 years old, exiting his basketball prime, and has spent his entire career in Portland,” explained Nick Wozny, a Franklin alumni and former writer for the Franklin Post. “I believe they should fulfill any request he has in leaving for another team and going after a much deserved championship.”
Many fans speculated about what to expect from a Lillard trade. As of a few days ago, the only likely destination for Lillard seemed to be the Miami Heat. “At the age of 33, we may have seen the peak of Damian Lillard on the basketball court. However, don’t get it twisted. Lillard is still a top three point guard in the NBA,” Wozny said. “With the Trail Blazers in the process of a rebuild, it’s going to cost other teams some draft picks, and potentially another solid role player in return. You never want to lose your franchise’s greatest player of all time, but Portland will definitely get a haul in return.”
Devontae Stoner, a Franklin junior and avid Blazers fan, shared his opinion on the trade. Before the trade was announced, Stoner commented, “I think they should trade him to the Miami Heat but wait for the best package possible from them.” Stoner went on to say, “I feel fine about it because the team needed to rebuild and get good draft picks for a few years so they can develop a really good young [team].” Many Blazers fans believed that they should trade Lillard, a man who has done so much for the team and city, to whatever team he chose no matter what kind of trade they get in return. Others would rather see the Blazers successful, and wanted them to wait for the best trade possible.
Ultimately Lillard was traded to the Bucks, and in return, the Blazers received Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton (a young star in the league and former first overall pick), Toumani Camara and a future 2029 first round pick from the Bucks. This was also a three team trade with Ayton coming to Portland from the Suns with Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little, and Keon Johnson heading to Phoenix. Holiday is not likely to spend many seasons in Portland, being 33 years old and another shooting guard, adding to the three youngsters in that spot, Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons, and Scoot Henderson, meaning he doesn’t quite fit the Blazers timeline.
How should the Blazers fans feel about this trade? According to Wozny, “Portland fans have a lot of bright sides to view in this trade. Firstly, there are no more distractions and rumors drowning the team’s locker room. More importantly, they may have actually won this trade.” Wozny continued, “Overall, I actually love this move for the Trail Blazers. The franchise finally knows the exact direction it’s moving in and can move on with the rebuild process.”
