Damian Lillard would rather go to another Western team if he leaves the Blazers?

I can’t find a team out there these days that believes Morey is bluffing about keeping Simmons past the deadline to A) first make what sounds to outsiders as a rather hopeless attempt to convince Simmons to rejoin the team for a playoff drive and B) more importantly retain Simmons to offer him as the centerpiece of offseason trade pitches for the likes of Portland’s Damian Lillard, Washington’s Bradley Beal, Boston’s Jaylen Brown and, of course, Brooklyn’s James Harden -via marcstein.substack.com / January 28, 2022

Dame is also extension eligible this offseason. So how does this injury impact his future plans here? Brian Windhorst: This is something that obviously we’re talking about $100 million decision in the offseason to add two years to his contract. That is obviously going to be something discussed very deeply in the coming weeks. However, in talking to folks around Dame, this is not something that Dame is worried about. Dame is trying to get healthy. Dan wants to remain in Portland, and the contract extension will come as a normal course of business as most players who have two years left on their contract. -via YouTube / January 14, 2022

Adrian Wojnarowski on the Blazers: They’ve been very active in the trade market. They want to continue to build around Damian Lillard. They’ve had discussions on players like Robert Covington or Jusuf Nurkic. -via YouTube / January 13, 2022