Damian Lillard Requests Trade From Portland Trail Blazers

• Damian Lillard has requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers
• The 32-year-old reportedly wants to be traded to the Miami Heat
• Lillard has insisted many times he wants to win with the Blazers
• He has played his entire 11-year NBA career with Portland

Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard has requested a trade out of the Portland Trail Blazers a day after the 2023 free agency opened.

This comes days after the team had a meeting with the guard and said they are committed to constructing a contender around the All-NBA guard.

According to Shams Charania, Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets are the leading candidates to land the superstar guard.

The Heat have been strongly linked with Lillard, who recently named Brooklyn as a potential destination in a hypothetical scenario.

The 32-year-old has played his entire 11-year NBA career with the Blazers. During that time, he has made seven All-Star teams and seven All-NBA teams.

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Why is Lillard leaving now?

This has been brewing for the last three seasons. The guard has always insisted that he wants to win in Portland despite a lack of progression in the postseason.

The farthest he took the Blazers was in 2019 when they were swept by perennial opponent Golden State Warriors. They also traded his backcourt partner C.J. McCollum in February 2022. Rumors of Lillard leaving intensified after they drafted Scoot Henderson with the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, per CBS Sports.

He recently met the president of basketball operations, Joe Cronin, who reiterated that they want to build a winner around the seven-time All-Star, who is 32.

Lillard's potential destination

Sports Brief earlier reported on Lillard naming Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets as his possible destination in a hypothetical trade scenario.

The Heat recently reached the NBA Finals but fell short, losing in six games to the Denver Nuggets.

The Nets were swept in the first round after trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving but have a solid roster of great role players like Mikal Bridges, Nic Claxton and Cam Johnson.