NBA news: As of right now, Damian Lillard is still officially a member of the Portland Trail Blazers. This might not be for very long, though, with the Miami Heat looking to hijack Portland of their cornerstone superstar.
Dame has been loyal to the Blazers for more than a decade now, but he clearly feels that his time in Portland is up. It was the seven-time All-Star himself who declared his desire to join the Heat this summer, which only means that this is likely to come to fruition sooner rather than later.
NBA News: Damian Lillard Says He Has ‘Bulletproof’ Love For Portland
In spite of the uncertainty surrounding Lillard’s future, what you can say without a shadow of a doubt is that Portland will always hold a special place in Dame’s heart. The 33-year-old himself recently came out with a strong message dedicated to his home city for the last 11 years as his departure becomes more and more imminent:
“You know it’s all love on my behalf. It’s bulletproof,” Dame said. “… Bulletproof Love for PDX baby you already know.”
Damian Lillard on Portland:
“You know it’s all love on my behalf. It’s bulletproof… Bulletproof Love for PDX baby you already know,” says Lillard.#RipCity #NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/jwk4GwQAPS
— Landon Buford (@LandonBuford) July 16, 2023
Blazers fans are definitely going to love this special shoutout from Dame, but in truth, they would love it even more if he stayed. Then again, even the most loyal Portland supporter knows that Lillard has done everything he can for the organization and for the city. At this point, Dame Time has simply run out.
NBA News: Damian Lillard A Better Fit With Bucks Than Heat
One might ask why the Milwaukee Bucks are not in the conversation for Damian Lillard. Well, the quick answer to that question is that the Bucks don’t have the necessary assets to strike a deal with Portland. Or rather, Milwaukee appears to be unwilling to part ways with their top assets in order to acquire the services of the future Hall of Famer.
Renowned sports broadcaster Collin Cowherd does not agree with this notion one bit, though. In his mind, Cowherd believes that Lillard would be a perfect fit for the Bucks. In fact, he argues that Milwaukee should send Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and at least one young player to the Blazers in order to form a Dame Lillard-Giannis Antetokounpo super duo:
“If you send an aging Dame to the Bucks, Giannis is 28, Dame is 33, and that fits the championship model,” Cowherd said on a previous episode of his podcast (h/t Wil Leitner of Fox Sports). “Don’t confuse ‘experience’ with ‘age.’ Experience is crucial in the playoffs, age can be a liability. … The belief is Dame and Miami is ‘perfect’, the reality is Milwaukee is the better fit and could give you Jrue Holiday AND Middleton to Portland for Dame and maybe one of the younger players. A dominant big and a great shooter. You don’t need Dame to be a great defender, which he’s not, because Giannis is your rim protector. Milwaukee is the much better play here than Milwaukee.”
While this does sound totally exciting and completely outlandish at the same time, the truth of the matter is that this isn’t going to happen anytime soon. There has been no indication of the Bucks having a go at Lillard — at least that we know of. Then again, we’ve seen crazier things in the past.
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