Damian Lillard Tells Blazers He’ll Wait To See What Moves They Make In Free Agency

Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers had a meeting to discuss their future on Monday and he came away with the meeting remaining patient to see what moves they make during the free agency period.

“This was the meeting a lot of the league was watching to see if Damian Lillard requested a trade,” said Brian Windhorst on Get Up Tuesday morning. “And he absolutely did not. From what I understand, the tenor of the meeting was that he doesn’t want to pressure on the Blazers. He wants to see what they do in free agency. He’s going to give them that time do that. This is an interesting strategy move.

“He said at the end of the season ‘Get me veterans.’

“The draft came and went and no veterans. He’s still not pressing from what I’ve been told. He’s still going to give the Blazers every opportunity to work through this free agency process this week whether it’s through trades or signing players.

“I will tell you that this is going to potentially cause some teams that were going to make offers for him to have move on with business. They were waiting to see whether Dame Lillard was going to be on the market before they started to make moves this week. Now, some teams are going to have to make a decision either go forward or wait around. Lillard is going to wait around.

“It’s certainly a move. I guess not surprising considering the way Dame has operated with the Blazers now for years. It did take some people in the league by surprise that he didn’t go forward with what everyone was expected him to do.”