Day: June 9, 2023

While speaking on The Dan Patrick Show, Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report gave insight into where Damian Lillard is with his career. Haynes noted that he’s in frequent contact with Lillard after the Portland Trail Blazers star’s recent Showtime interview sparked a new round of trade speculation.

When asked where Lillard would want to go if he requested to leave Portland, Haynes said “I’ll leave it at the Nets and Miami.” Haynes also said that Lillard would not want to go to the Boston Celtics in a trade.

For his part, Lillard took to Instagram Live to clear up some fallout from the Showtime interview. Lillard said he also made it clear during that interview that his preference is to stay with Portland and to compete for a title with the Blazers.

The Phoenix Suns made waves when news leaked that they plan to move on from Chris Paul on his current contract. The Suns will explore the trade market for Paul but could eventually waive the veteran guard. That could lead to re-signing Paul at a lesser salary or waiving and stretching Paul to create salary cap flexibility.

An option that has emerged is Phoenix making a run at Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden. Harden has a player option for next season that most expect him to decline.

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said that the Suns going after Harden was “in the wind” over the last month or so. Shelburne also suggested that Phoenix wouldn’t waive Paul “unless they feel pretty good about someone else”. Harden played his college basketball at Arizona State, and he’s known to be close with Kevin Durant.