Damian Lillard is currently sidelined for the rest of the season. And he won’t come back to court. The Portland Trail Blazers will try to re-establish a winning core around ‘Dame’ next season, despite trading several important pieces.
Lillard expressed his willingness to win in Portland despite the franchise’s direction this year. Longtime friend and teammate CJ McCollum will not be with him the next time he will take the floor.
“I’m loyal to what I believe,” Lillard said in an interview with Complex Sports. “I do love living in Portland.”
Damian Lillard told us Portland is where he wants to be. READ: https://t.co/CDP8IgS2w0 pic.twitter.com/iCPmOTKsVx — Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) February 18, 2022
Lillard has seemed to be troubled by injuries since the start of the season. He was averaging 24.0 points and a career-low 40 percent from the field, while the Blazers fell out of the playoff picture early.
The former rookie of the year has spent his entire career in Portland, trying to build a legit contender. He has reached the Western Conference Finals once, losing to the powerful Golden State Warriors.
He and CJ McCollum played together for nine seasons. They grew up together to become one of the most prominent backcourt duos in the league.
“All of these guys are my friends, especially CJ. I’ve been playing with CJ for nine years and we spent a lot of time around each other, with each other—you know, in the summer, on vacation, dinner, whatever; we train together, we’ve done everything together,” Lillard said.
Last offseason, the Blazers changed their coaching staff by hiring Chauncey Billups to replace Terry Stotts. Then, they made several changes to their front office, after they fired Neil Olshey.
Olshey was fired for “violations” of the team’s code of conduct related to the workplace environment at the team’s practice facility.
The Portland Trail Blazers have fired president/GM Neil Olshey after he violated the team's "Code of Conduct". pic.twitter.com/Zg9xcwnqJ1 — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 3, 2021
The Blazers have tapped Joe Cronin, the team’s director of player personnel that joined the franchise as an intern in 2006, to be the interim general manager.
The franchise decided to shake things up during the trade deadline. They traded Robert Covington and Larry Nance Jr., while they sent CJ McCollum to New Orleans.
Lillard seems to be unfazed as the Blazers try to retool their roster. ‘Dame’ wants to become the next NBA superstar to win a title with its first team in the league.
“But I’ve built this. I’ve been part of this for 10 years. I’ve been part of the change here and us being a successful franchise. I know what means something to me in my heart. And that’s winning a championship here,” Lillard said.
The Blazers are at 25-34 going into the All-Star break. They’re holding on to the 10th place, which leads to the play-in tournament.
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