The Portland Trail Blazers are an intriguing team to look into this offseason. The fans feel hard done by Damian Lillard’s trade request as he was the player that brought joy to countless Blazers’ fans for a decade. But on the other hand, they drafted Dame’s heir in Scoot Henderson. The young gun’s addition creates excitement for the future of the franchise. But where does this leave veteran Damian Lillard?

With the season around the corner, Dame still needs to find new employers. Otherwise, he would have to get ready for an awkward encounter with the Blazers’ front office in the pre-season workouts.

Damian Lillard would love to stay in Portland “in a perfect world”

Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers find themselves in an uncomfortable predicament where Dame wants to leave in order to win an NBA title. But the Blazers want a sizable trade package that a player of Dame’s caliber deserves. This has led to uncertainty surrounding Dame’s next destination. Damian Lillard is clearly one of the best players in the league currently but offers from other interested franchises haven’t materialized.

Dame averaged 32.2 points (a career high), 7.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game. These types of stats are ridiculous. This shows that Dame was one of the best scorers the league has seen and yet the Blazers finished 13th in the Western Conference standings.

On the Oddball Podcast hosted by Amin Elhassan and Charlotte Wilder, Dame’s trade situation was lately discussed. Amin said, “Isn’t this just conjecture and more artificial attempts to create leverage, in a world where there is no leverage.” His co-host Charlotte added, “Dame has made it very clear that he wants to go to Miami and it doesn’t seem like that is changing. So it does feel like a lot of smoke and mirrors because I just see a world in which he ends up somewhere else.”

The league is coming down hard on players who demand a trade. The NBA would fine $100,000 dollars to any player that demands a trade, and James Harden is the latest recipient of that fine.

Read More: 3 Months After NBA’s New Rules Challenged James Harden and Joel Embiid, 25YO Dallas Star Advocates WNBA Implementation

Amin says that Lillard hasn’t broken any laws because he is very vague in the language that he is using.

Future looking Bright for the Blazers

With Scoot Henderson now on their roster, the Blazers are better equipped to deal with Dame’s departure than ever before.

Along with Scoot, the Blazers also have players like Shaedon Sharpe and Anfernee Simons. They all are younger than 25 years and the Blazers have a core that could lead the franchise to success, notwithstanding any serious injuries.

Watch this Story: ‘Is It Too Late?’: James Harden Burns All Bridges With a 4-Word Bomb on Relationship With Daryl Morey & 76ers

Amidst the veteran’s unending urge to join Miami and the young gun’s arrival, it will be interesting to see how the Blazers will perform this season.