A three-month-long trade controversy reached its conclusion as Damian Lillard moved out of the Portland Trail Blazers. The point guard fulfilled his wish. But following the trade, Stephen A. Smith raised a few questions. The NBA personality doubted the honesty involved from the franchise’s side in the entire situation.

He brought forward a potential conspiracy from the Blazers with his words as it stirred more arguments. Despite reaching an ending, the drama just received a new beginning altogether.

What did Stephen A. Smith say?

In the latest episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, the host doubted the motive of the NBA organization. The way the Blazers handled the entire scenario made the 55-year-old question: “Was he lied to?”. Many people blamed Damian for stirring the entire controversy in his attempt to push for a move to the Miami Heat.

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Changing the notion of the debate, the TV personality pointed out the only fault Lillard made in the situation. “I think he should have them a list of teams,” Stephen A. stated while discussing it. He then reflected on the other side, mentioning that the Blazers’ general manager Joe Cronin did not want “to handicap their franchise for years to come”.

Despite that, Smith offered no sympathy for the team because he believed that the 7-time All-Star was “lied to”. According to recent reports, the former Rookie of the Year even wanted to rescind his trade request at one point. But Cronin seemed hell-bent on the idea of getting rid of their “residential superstar”.

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Thus, Stephen A. discussed how a better dialogue could have been, “Look, we will take care of you… We will let you go where you wanna go”. It would have been “a different discussion” but “we don’t talk about that enough”. So, the media personality raised certain valid doubts that made the supporters question one thing.

Was Damian Lillard forced out of Portland?

It all started when Damian put his personal interest over his NBA team to fulfill his desire to win the championship. The 33-year-old wanted an out, with the Heat culture attracting him the most. What followed was a series of controversies as Lillard ended up with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The lethal shooter thus eventually became a part of a title contender, but not for the side he wanted at first. His journey from West to East reached a different destination as the Blazers kept their tabs open to land a favorable deal. Both parties got what they wanted, with the NBA 75th Anniversary Team member having to settle for what was available.

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Several reports have talked about what happened behind closed doors between all the parties involved. But nobody quite knows what happened. That’s the side of the NBA we do not want to talk about, as Stephen A. Smith pointed out.