In his first interview since news broke about his trade request from the Portland Trail Blazers, Damian Lillard spoke with Marc J. Spears of Andscape but didn't offer up many details surrounding the request.
"I can say that there was [a trade request] and I would just prefer not to speak on the Trail Blazers," Lillard said. The mutliple-time all-star guard demanded a trade to the Miami Heat back in July but the Blazers front office haven't budged on making a deal happen. According to Blazers GM Joe Cronin, he'd be willing to wait it out "months" before striking a deal.
"I think what I've learned more than anything is patience is critical," Cronin said. "Don't be reactive. Don't jump at things just to seemingly solve a problem. I think the teams that have ended up in the most positive situations post-trade have been the ones that have been really diligent in taking their time and not been impulsive, or the teams that really kept their urgency under control."
"So I think that's how my approach has been with this and will be with this. We're going to be patient; we're going to do what's best for our team. We're going to see how this lands. And if it takes months, it takes months."
