Talk of Damian Lillard heading to Philadelphia (or another destination) has dominated the offseason and while the point guard is not expected to request a trade before the season, rumblings of his unhappiness continue to swirl.
Teammate CJ McCollum, who has also been the subject of trade rumors this summer, isn’t buying the notion that Lillard will force his way out of town, however.
“I don’t want to speak for him, but having a close relationship, him, he and I talk every day, or every other day, from sharing memes to sending videos to each other to serious talks about our season, what it takes to win, what it’s going to takes to win a championship, I have a pretty good sense of where he’s at,” McCollum told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (podcast).
“We want to put ourselves in the best position to win a championship. But I mean, he’s all in. I think at this stage I can say that he’s all in.”
Prior to the offseason, it was reported that Lillard would like to see the Blazers take steps toward joining true championship contention.
The team made a handful of moves this offseason, including re-signing Norman Powell and bringing on Tony Snell and Ben McLemore. Portland also hired Chauncey Billups to be the team’s new coach.
“On all accounts, based on what I’ve heard, based on what I’ve seen, I think he just wants to win a championship and he wants to do it in Portland…We’ve talked about the parade route, we’ve shared what it would be like, what it would feel like, and that’s our goal. That’s his goal. I know it. We’ve spoken on it many times.”
