When Damian Lillard first made his trade request to Joe Cronin and the Portland Trail Blazers, he made it clear he wanted to go to the Miami Heat. However, Cronin and the Blazers didn't love what the Heat had to offer if they weren't including one of their stars. There was little movement on the trade front for a while, with things getting contentious and there being little communication between Cronin and Dame's camp.
In early September, Cronin finally met to discuss the situation with Lillard, who didn't like how the situation was being handled and reiterated his desire to go to Miami. However, Cronin made it known that if a trade to the Heat were to happen, it would require “every attractable asset,” per Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes. Lillard realized a trade to Miami was unlikely and then even told Cronin if he couldn't go to Miami, he would like to rescind his trade request and return to Portland.
Cronin refused and told Lillad “there was no coming back,” which upset Lillard as he ended the meeting. These new details of how Cronin handled the trade talks with the Heat and Lillard trying to rescind his trade request upset plenty of people on social media:
While plenty of people questioned Cronin's tactics (including, unsurprisingly, many Heat fans), others didn't find an issue with it. Lillard asked for a trade to one team despite not having a no-trade clause and had his agent try to strong-arm other teams into not making offers. That didn't sit well with the Blazers, so they played hardball despite Dame being a franchise legend:
Either way, this drama is now over. Lillard is a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, which is a great spot for him and a championship contender. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out.
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