Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard believes recruitment by players is now more powerful than pitch meetings by teams.

Lillard's comments come after Kawhi Leonard was able to convince Paul George to request a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Los Angeles Clippers.

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Players want to play with their friends now more than ever. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant joined the Brooklyn Nets because they wanted to play with each other. Irving and Durant were then able to persuade DeAndre Jordan to join them in Brooklyn. All three All-Stars are really good friends.

Lillard and the Blazers weren't able to be players in the free agent market due to salary cap restrictions. The team has made some trades, though. Portland acquired Hassan Whiteside from the Miami Heat and Kent Bazemore from the Atlanta Hawks.

A lot of people believe the Blazers are one star away from being title contenders. Lillard and C.J. McCollum are two of the best guards in the league. Portland lacks that third consistent scorer on a nightly basis. A few summers ago, there was talk that Lillard and McCollum were recruiting Carmelo Anthony to the Blazers, as the New York Knicks were actively shopping Melo.

Luckily, that move never happened, as Anthony has been a negative for the Thunder and Houston Rockets the past two seasons. Hopefully, the Blazers can get that third star some time soon. Lillard just signed an extension with Portland, so the franchise now has to surround Dame and McCollum with more talent.