“Not Going to Fight Them”: $100 Million Extension Eligible Damian Lillard Admits Accepting Trade Under Conditions

Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers stated he wants to stay with the team that picked him in 2012 and that he will utilize the offseason to get healthy and improve his game. Damian Lillard, the star of the Portland Trail Blazers, is coming off the worst year of his professional career. It was one thing after another, with his off-season controversy, in-season injuries, and the team’s overall struggle to make the playoffs.

Inevitably, the speculation over Lillard’s future in Portland has intensified in recent months. A few clubs are cruising the waters, hoping he will push his way past the Blazers.

According to Spotrac, a website that analyses sports contracts, Lillard will earn $42 million next season as part of a $176 million deal he signed in 2019. He’ll also be eligible to sign a new agreement worth more than $100 million this summer. Lillard’s contract’s average annual value would rise beyond $50 million each season as a result.

Damian Lillard to accept a trade if Blazers want

“If they came to me and they wanted to trade me — I’m not going to fight them on wanting to trade me,” Lillard said this week in an interview on CNBC. “I don’t want to be anywhere I’m not wanted. But I don’t think that’s the case.”

Lillard has been insistent that he has not and will not ask the Blazers for trade thus far. His reasoning seems doubtful, but he stays committed to Portland for the time being. However, if the stars align in such a manner that Lillard cannot escape being dealt with, sources close to him have stated that there is one team in particular that he would want to join.

However, following speculation about his future with the Blazers last summer, Lillard witnessed the club go through a difficult transition on and off the court in the 2021-22 NBA season. Nonetheless, he wishes to remain.