Damian Lillard could request trade from Blazers due to head coaching backlash

A new report indicates that star guard Damian Lillard could request a trade off the Portland Trail Blazers due to two factors.

The Portland Trail Blazers have an important offseason incoming, as they have to figure out how to increase their chances of winning the NBA title next season. The team got a head start by hiring Chauncey Billups as their new head coach, but arguably their most importantly player may not be with the team for the long haul.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, guard Damian Lillard could request a trade off the team due to the backlash from the Trail Blazers’ head coaching search and if he feels the franchise did not take the right steps to turn into a contender.

Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard could force a trade out of Portland

Lillard has received some backlash from fans due to the team hiring Billups as head coach. Although previous reports indicated that Lillard had been in contact with Billups during the search process, Haynes notes that the Los Angeles Clippers assistant and other candidates the team interviewed were not suggested by Lillard and that he had no role in the hiring of Billups. Those candidates all came from general manager Neil Olshey.

Additionally, Lillard had no knowledge of Billups’ sexual assault allegations dating back to 1997, per Haynes.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Saturday that the Trail Blazers had conducted their own internal investigation into Billups’ allegations prior to offering him the job on Friday.

Lillard is coming off a 2020-21 campaign where he averaged 28.8 points, 7.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 45.1-percent from the field and 39.1-percent from the three-point line through 67 regular-season games. Despite averaging 34.3 points and 10.2 assists per game, Lillard and the Trail Blazers were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in six games.

Trade rumors surrounded Lillard following his early playoff exit, and after subsiding, they are set to ramp up yet again based off this latest report.