The Portland Trail Blazers finally broke up the Damian Lillard-CJ McCollum duo, sending McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans in a blockbuster deal. It ends a partnership that lasted eight-plus seasons, with plenty of great memories shared between the two guards.

McCollum is now gone, but the Blazers have no plans to trade Lillard and want to build around him instead. While there has been plenty of speculation about Dame's future given Portland's struggles, he has no intention of asking out.

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Via Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com:

“For me, my heart is Portland Trail Blazer. I want to win it. I know that I have a plan that’s going to put me on my best level when I come back to play. And I want our team to fit that. I’m a huge fan of Chauncey Billups. I love Chauncey, we’ve got a great relationship and I think he’ll continue to grow into the head coach that he wants to be. And I’m a Joe Cronin fan. In his position I think it takes being bold and doing bold things, doing what you see fit and standing on it. He’s told me that our plan is to build a winning team, not to rebuild. Because we had a prior relationship to him becoming GM, I trust his word.”

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The Blazers point guard continued:

“I’m at peace, I’m doing what I’ve got to do to get myself right and being at home with my family. I’m just waiting patiently to let things unfold and allow him to execute his plan. Once we get there and we see what that looks like and what that is, then I’ll have, I guess, more feelings than I have now but you’ve got to allow him to do his job and see what that finished product is. That’s just where I am.”

A lot of people thought the Blazers star was going to ask for a trade in the offseason, but that didn't happen, though there was plenty of drama about it. Even with Portland stinking it up this season and Lillard likely sidelined for the rest of the campaign, he's still holding strong.

Lillard wants to see how the Blazers reshape the roster around him moving forward, with rumors of increased interest in Jerami Grant already popping up. Perhaps he'll indeed ask out at some point in the near future, but that's not the plan for now.