Star point guard Damian Lillard seemingly prefers to stay with the Trail Blazers, but he also wants the Blazers to make it worth his while.
Lillard met with GM Joe Cronin and other Blazers officials on Monday, and per Brian Windhorst of ESPN, Lillard is willing to wait and see what the team does in free agency before deciding on his next move.
“This was the meeting a lot of the league was watching to see if Damian Lillard requested a trade,” Windhorst said on Get Up, via realGM. “And he absolutely did not. From what I understand, the tenor of the meeting was that he doesn’t want to pressure on the Blazers. He wants to see what they do in free agency. He’s going to give them that time do that. This is an interesting strategy move.”
The Blazers selected guard Scoot Henderson with the No. 3 pick in last week’s draft, followed by forward Kris Murray at No. 23 and shooting guard Rayan Rupert at No. 43. Those three add to a fairly young core.
Lillard reportedly would like Portland to add some “win-now” veterans in free agency.
“He said at the end of the season ‘Get me veterans,'” Windhorst said of Lillard. “The draft came and went and no veterans. He’s still not pressing from what I’ve been told. He’s still going to give the Blazers every opportunity to work through this free agency process this week whether it’s through trades or signing players.
“I will tell you that this is going to potentially cause some teams that were going to make offers for him to have move on with business. They were waiting to see whether Dame Lillard was going to be on the market before they started to make moves this week. Now, some teams are going to have to make a decision either go forward or wait around. Lillard is going to wait around.
“It’s certainly a move. I guess not surprising considering the way Dame has operated with the Blazers now for years. It did take some people in the league by surprise that he didn’t go forward with what everyone was expected him to do.”
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