Throughout his career, Damian Lillard has always made it clear that he wants to play with the Portland Trail Blazers until he retires. He doesn’t care for the concept of superteams and would much rather build a championship team with the franchise that drafted him. Lillard even signed a supermax contract with the team to demonstrate how serious he is about winning with the Blazers.

However, Lillard wasn’t always sure about his standing with the team. During a recent Vanity Fair interview, Lillard admitted that there was a time where he thought he would be traded to the New York Knicks. Rumors had been floating around and he wouldn’t have been surprised had something gone down. 

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“I thought I was headed there a few years ago; I was hearing trade rumors,” Lillard said. “The Garden is my favorite place to play.” Lillard on the Knicks would have been a sight to behold especially when paired with Carmelo Anthony. Of course, the two play together now but Anthony would have been closer to his prime at the time of this potential trade.

If you’re a Blazers fan, you have to be thankful that the trade never went through. Otherwise, the team would be a lot worse off.

Next month, the NBA is planning to come back in spectacular fashion thanks to a bubble city in Orlando, Florida. Only 22 teams are being invited to take part in the final 8 games of the regular season before the 16-team playoffs begin. One of the teams being invited is the Portland Trail Blazers who were infamously the only team opposed to the new format. 

It seems as though Carmelo Anthony is one of the Blazers players who aren't exactly sold on the whole bubble city idea. While speaking to Ernie Johnson of TNT, Anthony revealed that there is still a lot the players don't know about the NBA's return and that he's not sold on anything. With this in mind, he hasn't committed to coming back and is weighing his options. At this point, it's a real possibility that he doesn't participate in the league's return.

Over the weekend, Jamal Murray had an interesting start to his quarantine. As you all probably know by now, a video of himself receiving oral sex was posted on his Instagram story. Murray claims he was hacked although no one knows for sure whether or not this was actually the case. Murray eventually apologized for the incident but three days later, he is still being clowned for what went down.

Yesterday, CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers got to go live on the NBA's official Instagram account. At one point, a commenter made fun of McCollum by saying his neckbeard looked like Murray's private parts. McCollum echoed these sentiments out loud which led to a hilarious response from Lillard.

Damian Lillard has consistently proven himself to be one of the best players in the NBA and over the last couple of years, he has been one of the most vocal. Lillard is someone who stands up for the rights of the players while also voicing concerns whenever he sees fit. The latest hot button issue in the NBA is the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19. The NBA is contemplating drastic measures in order to limit the spread of the disease. These measures include playing games without any fans present.

While speaking to Jamie Goldberg of The Oregonian, Lillard gave his in-depth take on the virus and the strategies he has undergone to make sure he and his son steer clear of the virus. As you can imagine, the last few weeks have been difficult.

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“Obviously, it’s concerning,” Lillard said. “Especially in the environment that we work in, we’re constantly high-fiving and signing autographs and greeting people. We’re always in the presence of thousands of people. So, you’re concerned for those reasons and then we’re around (the media) as well. … So, it’s kind of a concern, but you just got to do your best to take care of yourself, try to stay clean, keep your hands clean. For me, I’ve just been trying to keep myself and my son out of as many crowds as possible.”

Lillard isn’t the only player concerned about the virus and as it turns out, the executives are scared too. A meeting is being held on Wednesday where drastic measures could be enacted. If this is the case, the league could be in for an interesting few months.

Numerous NBA teams were busy at the trade deadline this year as they were looking for ways to improve while also offloading some of their worst contracts. One of the teams that had a chance to make a splash was the Cleveland Cavaliers who were thinking of moving the likes of Kevin Love. Love has one of the heftiest contracts in the league and it’s clear he isn’t too interested in being in Cleveland anymore.

According to reports, the Portland Trail Blazers offered the Cavaliers Kent Bazemore and Hassan Whiteside but the Cavs weren’t interested. In fact, the struggling squad was looking for a first-round pick but there wasn’t a single team that wanted to make that move. This is why Love was never dealt, in the end.

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Per Jason Lloyd of The Athletic:

“The only one that I know definitely equated to just a salary dump. Portland offered Bazemore and Whiteside, which essentially would’ve matched Kevin’s salary. But both of those are expiring contracts and the Cavs would’ve received no real assets in return. Portland eventually sent Bazemore to Sacramento.

Most teams were telling the Cavs they’d need to include assets just to get them to take Kevin’s contract. The Cavs were asking for a first-round pick. No one even came close to that. I’d expect them to resume trade talks on Kevin this summer.”

Both the Cavaliers and Blazers are on pace to miss the playoffs this season. Had the Blazers acquired Love, their chances certainly would have gone up. Unfortunately, they may very well have to wait until next year to make a run.

Andre Iguodala spent the first half of the season trying to be traded by the Memphis Grizzlies. At the trade deadline, Iguodala was dealt to the Miami Heat and last night, he got to play his very first game with the squad. In the end, the Heat lost to the Portland Trail Blazers by a score of 115-109. Iguodala played 23 minutes and only mustered two points. He also picked up six rebounds and three assists. Afterward, Iguodala spoke about what it was like playing after a prolonged hiatus.

“The last time I played 5-on-5 was the Finals,” he said according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Just trying to get a feel for where my wind was, but I felt really good out there.”

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Iguodala also went on to say that he went through a lot of preparation before stepping onto the court. Clearly, Iguodala wanted to make sure he was ready to go.

“I watched a lot of film,” Iguodala said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever watched that much film for a regular season game. Just trying to figure out where the guys are going to be.”

Iggy and the Heat are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference and are expected to make a splash in the postseason. Only time will tell whether or not his impact will be felt in a substantial way. 

There are some players in the NBA who can take over a game almost at will. Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers is one of those players. On Monday night, Lillard led his team to a 129-124 victory over the bottom-dwelling Golden State Warriors. This was a huge game for the Blazers as they have been struggling quite a bit as of late. Lillard's team was down for most of the game although he was able to score a career-high 61 points to secure the victory.

Lillard's statline was quite impressive as he also finished with 10 rebounds and 7 assists. His point total was a record for any Blazers player although he had the previous record so it only makes sense that he would top himself.

Carmelo Anthony had a very small stint in Houston at the beginning of last season as he got to play a grand total of just 10 games with the Rockets. The Rockets realized Anthony didn’t fit in their system and he was eventually released and traded to the Chicago Bulls. Now, Anthony is seeing a bit of a career resurgence while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. Melo has been quite good in his role with the team and fans are excited to see him back in a thriving situation.

Last night, the Trail Blazers defeated the Rockets in Houston in what was Melo’s first game back in the city. He put up 18 points and 12 rebounds in what turned out to be a 117-107 win. After the game, Anthony spoke about his feelings towards the Rockets.

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“I honestly don’t have any feelings about going back,” Melo said according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “I was only there a couple weeks. I don’t really have any type of feelings going back.”

With Melo’s comeback in full gear, we’re sure the Rockets wish they had given Melo a bit more of a chance to succeed. 

All-Star games have been a sore spot for sports fans over the past few years. The effort produced by the athletes has diminished quite a bit and in some instances, players skip the all-star game entirely as they would prefer to rest their body. Some players and pundits have been looking for new ways to make the All-Star experience better, especially within the NBA. Perhaps one of the best ideas we've seen is coming straight from Damian Lillard who has been quite vocal about matters that involve the well-being of the league.

According to CJ McCollum, Lillard is advocating for a 1-on-1 tournament. This would allow for players to challenge each other and play in a 1 V 1 scenario. Fans are constantly fantasizing about these kinds of matchups and the All-Star game would be a perfect time to see them through.

Load management is something that has been talked about a lot in NBA circles over the past few months. Essentially, load management is when a player limits their minutes or games in order to preserve their bodies for the playoffs. Many players have received criticism for this practice, especially Kawhi Leonard who has been battling injuries to his knee and quad. 

Damian Lillard has been one of the key figures against load management. In a recent report from Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher, Lillard spoke out about load management and how players can take care of their bodies better. As Lillard explains, players should be resting their bodies in the summer instead of playing rec league.

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“I don’t play pickup all summer,” Lillard said. “That’s where players could start off with their load management. You see all these tapes with guys playing in pro-ams and pickup games, and then we get to the season and it’s load management. I know it’s a long season. I play a lot of minutes. There’s a lot expected of me. So it’s my responsibility to take that into consideration with my training and what I’m doing. I work out. I box. I swim. I lift. … I start playing pickup with the team right before camp.”

Lillard has been able to stay healthy throughout his career so this advice is definitely coming from a reliable source. Dame is one of the best point guards in the league and certainly knows a thing or two about keeping his body in shape.