Subscribe
Follow Us
In a bombshell turn of events two years ago, Damian Lillard requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers after 11 seasons with the franchise. The Blazers were rebuilding at that point, and Lillard, who was entering his age-33 season, wanted to leave for a shot at competing for a championship.
Lillard specifically wanted to team up with Jimmy Butler on the Miami Heat after their incredible run to the NBA Finals in 2023. It looked like Lillard was going to be the missing piece for that Heat team that managed to punch above its weight class seemingly every time. Instead, the Blazers traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks, prioritizing getting the best package available instead of sending one of their greatest players of all-time to his preferred destination.
This caused a bit of a breakdown in the relationship between Lillard and Blazers general manager Joe Cronin. This rift between them never seemed to be fixed, but now, it seems as though all water is under the bridge between those two. In fact, Lillard called the two's inability to rectify the situation between themselves a “mistake”.
“Toward the end, it was a lot of misunderstandings and miscommunications. When that happens, feelings are hurt. Joe and I never sat down and talked about that. We let it be and it sat out there. That was the mistake,” Lillard said in his introductory press conference following his return to the Blazers this offseason, per Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report.
Lillard and Cronin appear to have patched things up, and Lillard cannot be happier now that he's back home with the Blazers after signing a three-year, $42 million deal with them this offseason after being waived and stretched by the Bucks.
And surely enough, Lillard returns to the Blazers now that they're on the upswing.
Blazers remain Damian Lillard's safe space
Lillard never seemed to settle in his life outside Portland. He openly admitted feeling a bit lost when he was with the Bucks, and it's not difficult to see why seeing as he spent all of his career prior to 2023 with the Blazers.
But now that he's rehabbing from a torn Achilles, the biggest challenge of his career, Lillard decided to return to the only space he deems safe. There's simply no other way someone who preaches loyalty as much as Lillard does would do otherwise. And the Blazers will now look forward to seeing Lillard return to the court in 2026.
