Damian Lillard has repeatedly said that he wants to contend for a championship. After 11 years with the Portland Trail Blazers, he has decided to go make that happen somewhere else.  Lilliard requested a trade from the Trail Blazers, a move that will end the seven-time All-Star’s tenure with the team, two people aware of the situation said Saturday. The team later announced that Damian was who made the request. “We have been clear that we want Dame here but he notified us today he wants out and he’d prefer to play someplace else,” Portland general manager Joe Cronin said in a team statement Saturday. “What has not changed for us is that we’re committed to winning, and we are going to do what’s best for the team in pursuit of that goal.” Lillard is getting interest from clubs like the Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers, amongst others, according to multiple reports. One of the informants told the Associated Press that he preferred Miami; the reigning Eastern Conference champion, although this does not guarantee that the Trail Blazers will work towards this particular move. Damian is fresh off a season where he averaged 32.2 points for Portland. He is a seven-time All-NBA selection and was chosen to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team but he has never been close to winning a title in his 11 seasons at the NBA. Lilliard has met with the Trail Blazer many times in recent weeks, requesting that the roster be upgraded to the point where he can compete for a championship. But those efforts, clearly, have not been to his liking which is why he’s asking for a move. His decision was divulged on the second day of NBA free agency after Portland made a big spend on the first night to reportedly retain Jerami Grant with a $160 million, five-year deal.  As excellent as his resume is, Lilliard has not enjoyed much in terms of postseason success. The Blazers have won just four playoff series in his 11 seasons there, making the Western Conference Finals only once during that period. They went 33-49 this past season, the second successive year of ending well outside the playoff picture.  Lilliard became the all-time scorer in Blazers history, passing Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler for the mark, in a December 19 game with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Dame is the only player in franchise history with seven All-NBA honours and one of three players to be named All-NBA first team while he was with the Trail Blazers (2017 -18). He is a seven-time All-Star, the 2012-13 Kia Rookie of the Year and a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. He also received an Olympic gold medal, alongside the Heat’s Bam Adebayo at the Tokyo Games and could not stop talking about how much he loved playing with the Heat centre. Besides being the Blazer’s top scorer, Damian Lillard is also No. 1 in 3-pointers made and attempted by a wide margin including Portland’s all-time leader in free throws made and free throw percentage. He ranks in the team’s top five in games played (769), assists (5,151) and field goals made (6,281) and attempted (14,299). Lilliard is no doubt a dynamic athlete. He averages at least 24 points per match in each of the last eight seasons, and his career average of 25.2 ppg ranks fourth among active players (with at least 375 games) behind Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid and LeBron James. If that list was extended to every player without game minimums, Luka Doncic, Zion Williamson and Trae Young would be ahead of him too.  The only thing noticeably missing on his resume is a championship. And now he wants a move to change that. “I would say I want to be remembered for who I was, not as a player, but the principle that I stood on regardless of how successful I was, how major the failure was, the criticism, what people thought I should have done, what people think of me … no matter what was happening, I want to be remembered for who I was,” Lillard said in an interview with former teammate Evan Turner for the “Point Forward” podcast earlier this year. “I stood tall. I’ve stood tall in every situation and I want to be remembered for that.” It will take a team whether Miami, Brooklyn or any other place a massive haul of both players and Draft picks to convince Portland to trade Lillard. He will make up to $46 million in the coming season and may make as much as $216 million over the next four years if he uses his option for the 2026-2027 season.  Although Dame was loved in Portland, there were rumours surrounding his future with the club when they chose point guard Scoot Henderson with the No.3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft rather than package the pick for a proven player.  In an interview with Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com a day after the 2023 Draft, Cronin was questioned if the team was in danger of losing Damian Lillard, this is how he answered: “No, I don’t. I think Dame badly, badly wants to win and he’s probably being more vocal about that than ever but I don’t look at that as a negative. I look at that as he’s passionate about this, it matters deeply to him and it matters deeply to us. I think the reason you haven’t seen major issuers from us or the reason you still see Dame in our gym every day or still meeting with [coach] Chauncey [Billups] and I constantly is because he wants us to work. He’s bought in, he wants it to work here and he’s challenging us to get it done, which I think is more than fair and he’s earned that.” Related Articles: Pistons make trade for Wizards guard Monte MorrisHeat trade Victor Oladipo to Thunder

Heat trade Victor Oladipo to Thunder The Miami Heat traded Victor Oladipo back to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night in exchange for future Draft compensation, per multiple reports. Oklahoma get: Victor Oladipo. Heat get: Two future second-round picks. This move will create a $9.45 million trade exception for the Heat, said the person, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition that he’ll be kept anonymous because the trade has not been finalized by the NBA. It also gives Miami some financial flexibility, which is way above the tax threshold for the coming season. Last season, Oladipo averaged 10.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game in 26.3 minutes per game as a reserve for the Heat. Oladipo exercised this choice on Tuesday to be under contract for the upcoming season, though it is unclear when he will be able to play next. He tore his left patellar tendon in the first round of the playoffs against Milwaukee in April. The Heat guard had undergone his third major surgery in the last four years, the other two were on his right knee area and there is no set timetable for his return. Victor was a two-time All-Star with Indiana before getting injured in January 2019. The Pacers traded him to Houston in January 2021. The Rockets traded him to Miami two months later, he played for matches in March 2021 with the Heat before he was wounded again. In the 2016-17 season, Oladipo averaged 15.9 points with the Thunder. He spent his first three years in Orlando, then had a year in Oklahoma City before moving to Indiana.  Related News: Pistons make trade for Wizards guard Monte Morris

Veteran point guard for the Washington Wizards Monte Morris is being traded to the Detroit Pistons, per a report from multiple sources. In the deal, the Pistons are getting Morris from the Wizards in exchange for a future second-round pick. Pistons get: Monte Morris Wizards get: Future second-round pick. Last season, Morris averaged 10.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 48% overall and 38.2% on 3-pointers in 27.3 minutes per game. Monte was a regular starter for Washington, joining the club with Will Barton through an offseason trade that dealt Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith to the Nuggets. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the trade frees up a $9.8 million traded player exception for the Wizards. This is the second reported trade of the offseason for the Pistons. On Friday afternoon, they accepted a deal with the Brooklyn Nets for sharpshooter Joe Harris.  Morris, a six-year NBA veteran, who comes from Grand Rapids, Mich, appeared stoked about the trade and took to Twitter after the deal was reported, posting: “I’m coming home!! Let’s get it @DetroitPistons” So far this offseason, the Wizards have been busy as their roster has been through significant changes. They dealt All-Star guard Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns as part of a three-team trade. Days later, they reportedly consented to a deal that would bring Jordan Poole to Washington from the Golden State Warriors. When free agency opened on Friday, they reportedly agreed to a new contract with rising forward Kyle Kuzma. Related News: Heat trade Victor Oladipo to Thunder.

Canadian Rapper, Drake was one of the NBA Finals bettors who earned payouts after the Denver Nuggets’ Game 5 victory at home Monday night to win a title. However, his winnings were probably very high compared to the others. He revealed before Game 5 on his Instagram story that he had $242,584 in Bitcoin on Denver winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy. “The Joker,” Drake said in his story, talking about star center of the Nuggets Nikola Jokic. “Cash me out. Gotta see this one hit right here. It’s a must.” Related: Nikola Jokic leads Denver Nuggets to first NBA title with victory over Miami Heat Following Denver securing the deal against the Miami Heat, Drake earned a whopping sum of $824,785 in payouts. The One Dance crooner is already worth millions, but this type of win comes with a massive celebration. Drake who goes by the moniker “Champagne Papi’’ on Instagram, posted two more stories showing how the outcome of the finals had made him a happy man. “Me and Eddie after Nuggets finally get me a sports win @stake,” Drake wrote with a Polaroid picture of Jokic and teammate Jamal Murray smiling.  Denver’s Murray is also a Canadian, so Drake’s next story was a still shot of the shooting guard after the victory with Canada’s national flag and “cash me’’ written in capital letters. Murray delivered only 14 points in Game 5, which is low for his postseason standards. He delivered eight rebounds and eight assists over 41 minutes. The Joker headed his team offensively with 28 points and 16 rebounds and was awarded the title of Finals MVP.

The Denver Nuggets surpassed the Miami Heat 94-89 in a challenging Game Five of the finals to clinch their first NBA title; Nikola Jokic, the star of the team won the Bill Russell trophy as the NBA Finals MVP. Jokic who made history as the first player in the NBA to lead the league in points (600), rebounds (269) and assists (190) in a single postseason saved his teammates with 28 points and 16 rebounds in a game where all hope was lost. See also: Drake secures huge payout after backing Nuggets to win NBA finals. The Serbian was awarded the Bill Russell trophy as the NBA Finals MVP, an award that meant more to him than the two overall MVPs he won in 2021 and 2022. “We are not in it for ourselves, we are in it for the guy next to us,” Jokic said. “And that’s why this (means) even more.” Denver’s victory was a gruelling one. The Nuggets found it difficult to subdue the burning Heat or beat the finals night nerves, causing them to miss 20 of their first 22 three-pointers and seven of their first 13 free throws. Jokic’s team led by seven late before Miami’s Jimmy Butler scored eight straight points to give his team a one-point lead with 2:45 left. Butler ended the night with 21, making two extra free throws with 1:58 remaining to help Miami retain a one-point lead. Bruce Brown then got an offensive rebound and tip-in to give Denver the final lead. Following behind by three with 15 seconds left, Jimmy shot a three but missed the net. Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope delivered two free throws each to keep the match out of reach and win the title for Denver. No matter how tough the game was, the aftermath was beautiful, something the Nuggets and their fans could accept. Fireworks exploded outside Ball Arena at the final buzzer. Denver will house the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time in the team’s 47 years in the NBA. “It was ugly and we couldn’t make shots, but at the end, we figured it out,” Jokic said. “I am just happy we won the game” “That’s why basketball is a fun sport,” he added. “It’s a live thing. You cannot say, ‘This is going to happen’. There are so many factors. I’m just happy that we won the game.” Miami Heat, as coach Erik Spoelstra said, were a tenacious bunch to break. But they failed in their shooting. Bam Adebayo shot 20 for the team, but the Heat shot 34 per cent from the floor and 25 per cent from threes. Until Butler brook loose, he was 2-for-13 on eight points. The Heat thrived through a loss in the play-in tournament and became the only second No 8 seed to advance to finals, insisting that they did not want the consolation prizes. They played like they expected a victory, and for a while during the match which was more settled on the ground than in the air, it seemed they would. Denver came in shooting 37.6 per cent from 3 for the series and shot 18 per cent in this one. The team committed 14 turnovers. Despite clutch shots from Brown and Caldwell-Pope, they went just 13 for 23 from the line. The Denver Nuggets set the tone of the game with 2:51 left in the first quarter when The Joker received his second foul and joined Aaron Gordon on the bench. Jeff Green and Jamal Murray, who concluded with 14 points and 8 assists on an off night, joined them too. Denver was tentative on both ends of the court for the remainder of the half. Somehow, after they shot 6.7 per cent from threes – the worst first half in the history of the finals (10-shot minimum) they only trailed by seven. True to the Denver Nuggets’ character, they pressed on and came at the Heat in waves. Their historic game morphed into a slugfest, but they found a way to win regardless.