The name of an ill-fated guard has been invoked in the Damian Lillard-Trail Blazers standoff.
Though the All-Star guard has requested a trade out of Portland, the team said it will not rush a move just to satisfy Lillard, which could lead to an unfortunate standstill similar to that of Ben Simmons.
“I just talked to two teams this morning who said essentially we might be looking at another Ben Simmons situation here,” Ramona Shelburne said Tuesday on “NBA Today.”
“This guy’s got four years on his contract. They don’t have to do anything. They can take their time and let’s just see if he shows up for training camp. If they want to wait until February to trade him, they can.”
Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, has informed teams that his disgruntled client is only interested in being traded to the Miami Heat, per the Miami Herald.
“I do what I should for my client,” Goodwin told the outlet. “Some teams I did call. Other teams have called me. It’s a respectful relationship with most teams. Truthfully, he wants to play in Miami. Period.”
Simmons requested a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers during the summer of 2021 and was not traded until February 2022, heading to Brooklyn in a multi-player swap that saw James Harden move to the Sixers.
The Brooklyn guard played just 42 games for the Nets last year, battling both mental health issues and injuries.
After averaging 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists during an All-Star 2020-21 campaign, Simmons has become one of the least desirable contracts in the league, scoring just 6.9 points per game as he is still owed over $78 million for the next two seasons.
Lillard is a seven-time All-NBA award winner who is coming off a career year, in which he scored a career-high 32.2 points per contest and added 7.3 assists a game.
