Damian Lillard wants out of Portland. This has been known for quite some time, as the Portland Trail Blazers All-Star has made it clear he wants to join Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo on the Miami Heat.

As the offseason has progressed, no ground has really been made on a potential trade, especially since Miami knows they own leverage given Lillard's desires. The Blazers want a lot of value for one of the best players in the league, and rightfully so, yet the Heat have been unwilling to match their asking price. At this point, there is no telling as to what team Lillard will begin the 2023-24 season on.

With trade talks ongoing and still finding himself in Portland, Lillard recently discussed his stance on the Blazers, explaining what his mindset is as it pertains to his Trail Blazers future.

“I gotta live my life how I see fit,” Lillard stated on the Back on Figg Podcast. “For me, that's do everything I can to give myself a chance to win a championship and in the process of that, I'm a run it up… I would never fold for nothing. I'll sink with the ship and I'll go down, that's how I'll do it. But I think it's a way that you have to go about things where you can't be an idiot.”

Since being drafted sixth overall by the Blazers in 2012, Lillard has remained loyal to his organization and teammates. Never once has he complained about the direction of the franchise and he has done his best to go out every night and lift his team up.

At the same time, one player can only take so much, especially if no ground is being made year after year. Winning is the only thing that matters to almost every single NBA talent and for Lillard, he wants to do so at the highest level possible. As things stand in Portland right now, he seems to want something different than what the team is aiming for.

“You say I'm gonna stay down and ride until the wheels fall off and all that stuff. I don't have to prove that to nobody,” Lillard went on to say. “I've shown it, I mean that in my heart, but that's like me and you saying ‘Man, no matter what happens, we ain't telling on each other.' And then the day comes when I'm still playing by those same rules, like me and you want the same thing and we gonna go out together. And then, that ain't the code you want to live by no more.

“When that happens, me and you can't be how we was. If me and you don't want the same thing no more and you showing me that you don't want the same thing, we don't want the same thing.”

The general consensus around the league is that Lillard has played his final games as a member of the Blazers. Whether or not he begins the 2023-24 season on their roster depends on the willingness of the Heat and Trail Blazers to come to an understanding on a potential trade.