BREAKING: Trail Blazers GM Releases Statement About Damian Lillard's Future

Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin released a statement regarding Damian Lillard's future.

Damian Lillard has spent his entire 11-year career playing for the Portland Trail Blazers and is one of the best players in the franchise's history. 

That said, his future with the organization has become a hot topic over the last few seasons. 

Lillard still remains among the 15 best players in the NBA at 32 years old and is coming off a season where he averaged a sensational 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists per contest while shooting 46.3% from the field and 37.1% from the three-point range in 58 games.

Despite his stellar play, the Trail Blazers finished as the 13th seed in the Western Conference with a 33-49 record and missed the NBA Playoffs for the second straight season.  

On Monday evening, Joe Cronin, the general manager of the Trail Blazers, released a statement about the superstar point guard (h/t Chris Haynes of the NBA on TNT and Bleacher Report). 

Cronin's statement via Haynes: “I met with Dame and Aaron Goodwin this afternoon. We had a great dialogue. We remain committed to building a winner around Dame.”

Portland Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin issues statement on meeting with Damian Lillard: “I met with Dame and Aaron Goodwin this afternoon. We had a great dialogue. We remain committed to building a winner around Dame.”

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 27, 2023

The Trail Blazers selected 19-year-old Scoot Henderson with the third pick in the 2023 NBA Draft last week, and he is seen as a player with significant star potential. 

[The Blazers] felt like picking [Scoot Henderson] was better than any other trades that could have been had… They’re trying to sell to Dame that they’re not in a rebuild.”@ChrisBHaynes on Damian Lillard's meeting with the Blazers

(via @BleacherReport)pic.twitter.com/uRlKlsvlWm

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 26, 2023

Over Lillard's tenure with the Trail Blazers, they have been to the NBA Playoffs eight times. 

They have won a Playoff series three times, and in 2019 made the Western Conference Finals (but were swept by Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors).