Damian Lillard had been the subject of the trade rumors during the NBA summer this year as he was reportedly disappointed with the Portland Trail Blazers’ management and disgruntled with how the Blazers’ roster was built.
Lillard could’ve easily demanded a trade during the summer but decided to stay and remain loyal with the team that drafted him. Lillard told a surprising story that could’ve put him on a Lakers’ uniform and team up with Laker’s superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The 31-year-old point guard revealed that he met with James on James’ mansion during the summer. They talked about his current situation and the future of his NBA career.
In his recent interview with Chris B. Haynes of Yahoo! Sports, Lillard said:
“’Bron asked what I was thinking with my situation, and I told him what I’m telling you: that I just want to be in a position to win it all. He painted the picture to me that if I were to leave, the situation could look like this. He didn’t tell me to come to L.A., and he didn’t say anything to me that I didn’t already know other than what it could look like. I told him, ‘I know if I were to play with y’all, I know it would work out because of my skill set,’ and who I am and who they are.”
“I think the media is so strong now that a lot of top players have become influenced by the media. And for me, I think some media people have an issue with me or they view my stance as coming off a certain way. I don’t tune out what they say, but I just do what I want to do. And I think people look at it like, ‘Ah, he’s just taking the money. He doesn’t want to win.’ The media is so accustomed to rocking the boat and making people move how they want to move, and that’s not going to happen with me.”
“I’m sure it would be great to play with LeBron and AD and play in a big market, but as attractive as it sounded and as fun as that might be, I don’t feel in my heart that that’s who I am or where I belong. And one thing I want to emphasize is that this decision wasn’t made out of comfort. I’m not afraid to be out of my comfort zone because I’m going to live here when I’m done playing regardless. I made my decision based on what I actually want to do.”
The trio of Lillard, James and Davis would’ve been more deadlier than the current Lakers’ trio of James, Davis and Westbrook. Lillard would definitely stretch the floor with his unlimited range and can provide the scoring down the stretch.
The Lakers had the chance to bring another scorer and shooter in Buddy Hield but the team opted to rather bring Westbrook in Los Angeles but what could’ve been if Lillard demanded a trade to the purple and gold.
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