Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has no plans of leaving Portland, he admitted in an interview with CNBC.
Lillard is currently under a four-year, $176,265,152 contract with the Trail Blazers, according to Spotrac, but rumors sparked that the six-time All-Star might want to seek a trade. Lillard dismissed those rumors back in December, and now once again, the guard is saying how he plans to stay.
“I have no plans of not being a Portland Trail Blazer,” Lillard said. “I want to be here, and I think they want me here.”
The guard has a chance of signing an extension this summer for around $100 million, per CNBC.
Lillard missed a huge chunk of the season due to abdominal surgery. The Trail Blazers also missed the playoffs for the first time since Lillard’s rookie season in 2012–13.
On top of this, Lillard’s now former teammate CJ McCollum was traded to the Pelicans. It’s been a turbulent year for Lillard, so expectations were that he would try to find a new team. Still, Lillard says no.
“Everybody is like, ‘He’s going to do this. He’s going to do that,’” Lillard said. “But the game is so watered down, and the game is so fugazi [fake] that people literally won’t believe what you say even if you say it directly to them.”
Even though Lillard himself isn’t seeking a trade, he admitted that if the Trail Blazers want to accept a trade deal for him, he would be open to it.
“If they came to me and they wanted to trade me—I’m not going to fight them on wanting to trade me,” Lillard said. “I don’t want to be anywhere I’m not wanted. But I don’t think that’s the case.”
