Damian Lillard Comments on Lakers Amid Trade Rumors

The Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of issues to address in the offseason, and the franchise has been dealing with a lot of trade rumors lately.

Enter Damian Lillard.

The veteran made some comments on the Lakers in 2017 and they just resurfaced now. A fan asked Lillard where he would like to play if Portland was no longer an option.

“If Blazers said they didn’t want me… Utah Jazz or Lakers,” Lillard wrote on June 14, 2017.

This tweet is now viral and everyone is watching Lillard. It came a little more than a year after Kobe Bryant confirmed his retirement and long before LeBron James and Anthony Davis joined the West.

Lillard has a good relationship with LeBron and the Lakers will find it challenging to make a nice trade package for the superstar. LA can only offer the current draft pick and a few selections beginning in 2027. They traded for Davis and this changes everything.

Rumors got a bit nasty since Portland had another first-round playoff exit. Chris Haynes from Yahoo Sports added fuel to the fire as well. Haynes said that the backlash Lillard has received for the Blazers getting Chauncey could force the superstar “out the door.”

“The enormous backlash from the Portland Trail Blazers’ process to hire a new coach and his concerns on whether a championship contender can be built have become factors that may push the franchise player — Damian Lillard — out the door, league sources told Yahoo Sports,” Haynes noted. “Lillard has remained loyal to Portland in large part due to the tremendous fan base. But over the last few days, he’s seen some of those same fans attacking him on social media for a pending coaching hire he played no part in consummating, sources said.”

The Lakers will put an end to all the trade rumors

Brian Windhorst from ESPN discussed Lillard’s situation with the team. The Lakers and other teams will continue to monitor moving forward. If Portland begins listening to offers, LeBron James will probably try to get Lillard on board. That’s what Stephen A. Smith suggests.

“Well, they [Blazers] better handle their business, because, listen, let me tell you something right now, LeBron’s already out there,” Smith said on a June 5th episode of First Take. “He’s going to try to recruit, he’s going to try to recruit. You know they’re going to try to get somebody to L.A., there’s no question about it. Again, we’ve already spent time talking about Damian Lillard. What if Damian Lillard ended up changing his mind? He’s told me for years he ain’t interested. What if he changed his mind and decides he wants to go to the Lakers? What if he changed his mind? I mean, it would change everything.”