Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin recently said it could take “months” to complete a trade centered on star guard Damian Lillard, and from the sounds of things, Cronin wasn’t kidding.
At least, that seems to be the way others see it.
Per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, the Blazers are in no rush to move Lillard and are expected to be patient in finding what they want in return. In fact, they could wait all the way until the trade deadline in February 2024.
In that sense, the Lillard situation could be much like the one involving guard/forward Ben Simmons and the 76ers are couple seasons ago. If you remember, Simmons sat out the entire first part of the season until the Sixers traded him to the Nets in a deal for guard James Harden.
“I just talked to two teams this morning who said essentially we might be looking at another Ben Simmons situation here,” Shelburne said on NBA Today, via Erin Walsh of Bleacher Report. “This guy’s got four years on his contract. They don’t have to do anything. They can take their time and let’s just see if he shows up for training camp. If they want to wait until February to trade him, they can.”
Lillard and agent Aaron Goodwin are reportedly determined to get Lillard to Miami — and only Miami. But it could take multiple teams, and lots of patience on Lillard’s part, before that can happen.
As we relayed here, the Clippers are a team that is believed to be aiming to get involved in a Lillard trade, perhaps as a third team to facilitate a deal. But talks, of course, are considered to be in the early stages.
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