Damian Lillard's trade request is a week old, and much has been said by those involved in the negotiations. Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has now publicly acknowledged Damian Lillard's impending breakup with the team. Billups addressed the situation in the context of how it might affect Scoot Henderson.

The Blazers' decision to select Henderson with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft might've ultimately pushed Lillard to finally ask for a trade. A Lillard trade would seemingly allow Henderson to take over Portland's starting point guard role. Billups, however, told Andscape there's no rush to give the Blazers' rookie too much responsibility.

Anfernee Simons was the Blazers' second-leading scorer for the 2022-2023 season. If Lillard is out of the picture, Simons could increase his average of 21.2 points per game.

“We don’t know how the Dame situation is going to play out,” Billups said. “But you got Anf Simons over here who I’ve also been pouring into the last couple of years. If you look at where he is at this point of his career, I think it will be a great opportunity. If it is that way, Scoot can learn from Anf similar to how Anf learned from Dame. So, I don’t think the urgency is there at all …

“[Simons] is All-Star potential, All-Star close already. There are some people that [Henderson] can learn from, which is great.”

The Blazers don't appear any closer to completing a trade for Lillard. The point guard reportedly only wants to play for the Miami Heat, which hasn't offered Portland an acceptable trade package.

Lillard's agent, Aaron Goodwin, has made it clear to potential suitors that Lillard has his eyes on the Heat.