Lillard’s best friend admits “trade likely”… Is that the end of the ‘one club man romance’?
CJ McCollum (New Orleans), one half of the ‘Lil’ McDougall duo, is also predicting a trade of Damian Lillard (Portland).
McCollum predicted the trade of his former teammate on his local show First Take on 7 July. McCollum is known as a close friend of Lillard’s, who played alongside him at guard for nearly eight years before being traded to New Orleans.메이저놀이터
“I think it’s going to come down to market sentiment,” McCollum said. If I had to bet, I’d say last season was Lillard’s last season in Portland.”
This off-season is not the first time Lillard has been traded. Lillard entered the NBA via the 2012 draft and has been a one-club player for Portland since his debut.
He is undoubtedly a top-tier point guard. He’s a seven-time All-Star and seven-time All-NBA team selection. However, Portland hasn’t been able to find the right players to back him up, either in quantity or quality. Lillard showed fantastic clutch ability in the playoffs, but the team kept falling short of winning a championship.
Lillard remained loyal. He said his goal was to finish his career in Portland. Last season, it was the same story. He played in 58 games, averaging a career-high 32.2 points and 7.3 assists, but the team missed the playoffs.
Lillard showed a side of himself that we haven’t seen before, saying on the 7th that “if I were to be traded, the Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets would be good destinations”. It was the first time the player had mentioned a destination.
A trade for Lillard seems even more likely given the state of the 2023 NBA Draft. Portland has the third overall pick, with the Charlotte Hornets likely to select Brandon Miller (Alabama) at No. 2. If so, Portland will likely select Scoot Henderson (G-League Ignite) with the third pick, which would saturate the guard corps with Lillard, Anfernee Simmons, Shayne Sapp, and Henderson. Traffic will need to be cleared, and the aging curve is more likely to leave prospects behind than Lillard.
So much for the romance of the one-club man: the player’s own interviews, his best friend’s interviews, and his draft performance. All indicators point to a trade for Lillard.