After spending the entirety of his 11-year NBA career with the Portland Trail Blazers, Damian Lillard finally did what NBA fans and pundits alike have been clamoring for and asked for a trade. Throughout his career, Lillard has proclaimed his loyalty to the Blazers organization, but the team has wasted years of his prime by failing to surround him with a contending roster.
Not only has Lillard requested a trade, but he has reportedly let Blazers brass know that he has only one destination he would like to be dealt to. The whole saga has drawn quite an honest remark from current free agent Austin Rivers, who recently took to social media to let it be known that he does not agree with the current trend of players demanding trades.
"If you were a free agent, then you could choose where you were gonna go… This started with James [Harden] and Ben [Simmons] and all these guys doing this sh*t. It's bad for the league."
Austin Rivers on Damian Lillard's trade demand
(via ringernba/TT)pic.twitter.com/IsBfRAlace
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 24, 2023
“Regardless of how good you are as a player, the NBA is not, it's a privilege. If you're a free agent you can choose where you were gonna go, that's the business. But when you're not and you sign a deal, that's part of the business.” Rivers said. “If you get traded somewhere, you got to go play. . .this started with James [Harden] and Ben [Simmons] all these guys doing this s**t, it's bad for the league.”
Rivers went on to say that players demanding trades was a big reason why the new CBA was not so favorable towards the players. Austin Rivers also said that he's a big fan of Damian Lillard as a player and that he's one of the hardest players he's ever had to guard. He just doesn't like star players requesting to leave before their contracts are up.
Follow Us
Subscribe