Last summer, needing an infusion of talent to return to the top of the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers pulled off a trade for Russell Westbrook that sent Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and a first-round draft pick to the Washington Wizards.
It is a move widely considered a mistake, if not a disaster.
L.A. had other options, and one of those options was reportedly making a move for perennial All-Star guard Damian Lillard.
After years of losing early in the playoffs and being stuck with a roster that looked doomed to being merely good but not great, Lillard asked the Portland Trail Blazers to trade him that offseason.
That summer, LeBron James and Anthony Davis attempted to recruit Lillard to the Purple and Gold.
Via The Ringer:
“James had suffered an early playoff exit himself, and was looking to recruit a star guard to Los Angeles. Ever the salesman, he extended Lillard an invitation to his sprawling Brentwood estate.
“‘He was just like, “Pull up to the house,”‘ Lillard told me recently. ‘And I’m like, (expletive), I’m out here. Tomorrow is the only day I ain’t got nothing planned out. I can pull up for a little bit.’
“Now Lillard was seated across from James and Anthony Davis, who needed help in their quest for another title. That evening, they indulged in expensive wine and Italian cuisine and discussed their plans for the future. ‘We just chopped it up just about the possibilities,’ Lillard said.
“‘What’s going on with you?’ Lillard said James asked him.
“‘And I was like, “I really don’t know what we’re doing,'” Lillard said. ‘It was just a conversation like that.'”
Moving south to join the Lakers was something Lillard felt obliged to at least consider.
Lillard was intrigued, but he said no
Lillard, a native of Oakland, California, entered the NBA in the 2012-13 season. He quickly transformed a Blazers organization that had gone into the tank after devastating injuries to Brandon Roy and Greg Oden, who were thought to be the nucleus of a future contender just a couple of years earlier.
But management failed to put enough pieces around the superstar guard, which resulted in him listening to James’ pitch.
“After years of stagnation, including four first-round exits wrapped around a trip to the 2019 West finals, Lillard was open to seeing what the rest of the league had to offer. And for a moment at LeBron’s table, the Lakers duo was making a compelling case for Lillard to leave, enough to form a fleeting idea of donning the purple and gold. ‘I mean, of course I thought about it,’ Lillard said. ‘Like, man, what if that happened? What if I did go? I thought about it. At that point, I was thinking about a lot of things.’
“Lillard added: ‘I was like, “If I’m going to ever look at a different situation than mine, I’m going to look at one where I know I’m going to have a great chance to win.” ‘ “
In the end, Lillard chose loyalty over an easy win to possibly win the championship ring that had eluded him.
“But as the evening progressed, lessons learned from childhood began to overtake any urge he had to jump ship.
“‘The way I look at it is I grew up in that type of environment: You got to be for your family, you got to be for your people,’ he told me. ‘That’s just what my family stood for. My dad, my mom, my brother, my cousins, and my grandparents, uncles, aunties: I’ve seen plenty of my family members have arguments and disagreements. There might have been a fight or whatever, but we were like this. Still, this to this day. So all I know is to roll with your own. Roll with your people.’
“By the end of the night, Lillard had a clearer picture of his future.
“‘I want to win as a Trail Blazer,’ Lillard said. ‘I want to win a championship where I am. I don’t think I would feel the same joy and happiness if I did it elsewhere. I would be happy, no doubt. Like winning a chip, you get that experience.’
“‘But I know how I want it.'”
Lillard’s loyalty to the only NBA team he has ever played for is admirable, but, in all likelihood, it’s a quality that will result in him retiring ringless, barring a major and unexpected trade that will make Portland an instant title contender.
Even worse, as far as the Lakers were concerned, it left them without their best option for a return to contention, and it opened the door, for better or worse, for Westbrook to become a member of the team.
