NBA star Lillard wants trade, prefers deal to Miami: reports

NEW YORK -- Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has requested a trade and the seven-time NBA All-Star guard prefers a deal to the Miami Heat, according to multiple reports on Saturday.

Lillard, who turns 33 on July 15, is due $204 million over the next four years. He has spent all 11 of his NBA campaigns with Portland but has gone past the second round only once in eight trips to the playoffs.

Lillard's request was reported by ESPN and The Athletic with the Miami Herald also reporting Lillard wants only the Heat, being a close friend of Heat star Bam Adebayo and having respect for playmaker Jimmy Butler.

Butler and Adebayo were keys in the Heat making a run from the play-in games to the NBA Finals last month, where Miami lost to the Denver Nuggets.

Lillard averaged a career-high 32.2 points and 7.3 assists and matched a career-best by shooting 46.3% over 58 games last season. He would be the largest point scorer in NBA history to swap teams for the next campaign, ESPN reported.

"We want Dame here but he notified us today he wants out and he'd prefer to play someplace else," Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin said.

"What has not changed for us is that we're committed to winning, and we are going to do what's best for the team in pursuit of that goal."

Portland finished 33-49 and missed the playoffs for the second season in a row.

The Trail Blazers are expected to want young talent and draft picks in exchange from any team interested in Lillard. Those with salary cap room to make the deal include the Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets.

Players on the Heat who could be moved in exchange likely include guards Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro and forward Duncan Robinson.

ESPN reported Lillard has a "deep respect" for the San Antonio Spurs, who just landed French teen star big man Victor Wembanyama. But the Spurs finished 22-60 last season and missed the playoffs for a fourth consecutive campaign.

Lillard played under Spurs coach Gregg Popovich on the US Tokyo Olympic gold medal squad.

The Spurs also have the most salary cap space available among NBA clubs in the latest round of free agency.

Another talented guard in a similar situation is Philadelphia's James Harden, a three-time NBA scoring champion who opted in on a one-year deal and also seeks a trade.

Lillard's requested move was revealed only hours after the start of NBA free agency for the 2023-24 season.

Talks were allowed to begin Friday but no contracts can be signed until next Thursday, leaving only unconfirmed reports to signal the flow of talent around the NBA as dozens of deals were said to have been agreed upon by clubs and available players.

Among those deals was Portland's pact with forward Jerami Grant on a five-year deal worth $160 million, ESPN and The Athletic said.

- Lopez stays with Bucks -

Fred VanVleet, a 29-year-old point guard who helped Toronto win the 2019 crown, is going to Houston on a three-year deal worth $130 million.

But center Brook Lopez has agreed to a two-year deal worth $48 million to stay with the Bucks. He was among Houston's reported targets.

The Bucks, the 2021 NBA champions, reportedly agreed to a three-year deal Friday with forward Khris Middleton.

Keeping both players should help ensure the Bucks also keep Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who could become a free agent in 2025.

Houston made a four-year deal worth $80 million with Canadian swingman Dillon Brooks, dropped by Memphis after calling LeBron James "old" before his Los Angeles Lakers beat Memphis in six games in the playoffs.

Houston also agreed to a four-year deal worth $32 million with center Jock Landle.

The Lakers will reportedly keep guard D'Angelo Russell on a two-year deal worth $37 million while the Clippers keep Russell Westbrook with a two-year deal.

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Lillard not asking for trade, but wants urgency from Blazers

While saying his desire has been to play for the Trail Blazers "for my entire career," Portland star guard Damian Lillard acknowledged on Friday that he wants to see progress toward building a championship team.

The 31-year-old Lillard, a six-time All-Star who averaged 28.8 points and 7.5 assists per game this past season, both the second-best of his nine-year career, refuted a report from a basketball-based website that he was on the verge of asking for a trade.

Still, his comments, which came in Las Vegas after a practice for Team USA, were not a ringing endorsement for the franchise. 

"Right now I'm not sure what I'm going to do," he said, according to ESPN.

"What I can say is my intentions and my heart has always been set on being in a Trail Blazers uniform for my entire career. But I think over time, you want to win it all. And I want to win it all in a Trail Blazers uniform. 

"But we all have to be making strides toward that."

Lillard's contract with the Trail Blazers runs through 2024. Though Portland is a consistent playoff presence, having qualified for eight straight years, it has lost in the first round four times in the last five seasons.

The Blazers lost in six games to the Denver Nuggets in June. They advanced to the second round by beating Oklahoma City in five games in 2019, and had not escaped the first round since defeating the Los Angeles Clippers in 2016.

"The best way to put it is to be more urgent about what our next step is and how we move forward. We're not a bad team; we're a winning team," Lillard said.

"I just think we've reached that point where it's like, 'OK, it's not enough.' Do we actually want to win it all? Is that what we're shooting for? We've got to do things to show that," he added.

-reuters-

NBA: Grizzlies now interested in trading Iguodala

The Memphis Grizzlies are looking for trade partners in order to deal new forward Andre Iguodala and do not intend to buy him out before the season, ESPN reported Thursday.

The Grizzlies acquired Iguodala this week in a trade with the Golden State Warriors, who were looking to shed his $17.2 million salary for the upcoming season in order to acquire D'Angelo Russell. A contract buyout of Iguodala, which would allow contenders to court him, was speculated for the rebuilding Grizzlies.

But the Grizzlies are reportedly now looking at the 35-year-old veteran as a way to add young players in a trade as they rebuild their roster.

Memphis also acquired a first-round draft pick along with Iguodala as Russell went to the Warriors and Kevin Durant went to the Brooklyn Nets. The Grizz also acquired Grayson Allen, Kyle Korver and Jae Crowder from the Utah Jazz in a trade for guard Mike Conley earlier this offseason.

Memphis then shipped Korver to the Phoenix Suns for Josh Jackson, De'Anthony Melton and two future second-round picks on Wednesday. Korver is expected to be waived by the Suns.

The Grizzlies are likely to explore other young players or draft picks in a trade by including Iguodala, who is known for his perimeter defense and helped the Warriors to five consecutive NBA Finals appearances and three championships in that stretch.

Iguodala, 35, averaged 5.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 68 games (13 starts) for the Warriors last season, his sixth with the team and his 15th in the NBA.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Thunder land George in trade with Pacers: reports

The Oklahoma City Thunder have acquired All Star forward Paul George in a trade with the Indiana Pacers, several news outlets reported on Friday.

The Thunder are expected to send guard Victor Oladipo and forward Domantas Sabonis to the Pacers as a part of the deal.

George has been the talk of trade rumors for the past couple of weeks after he informed the Pacers he was not re-signing and planned to become a free agent when his contract was up next summer.

The Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets had all been rumored as possible destinations for the 27-year-old, who will now team up with league MVP Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City.

George averaged 23.7 points and 6.6 rebounds for the Pacers, who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

The Thunder were also knocked out of the opening round of the postseason after a campaign that saw Westbrook average the first triple double for a complete season since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62.

source: news.abs-cbn.com