Blazers' Damian Lillard Requests Trade; Spurs 'Dark Horse' Destination?
The San Antonio Spurs have emerged as a possible dark horse destination to land All-Star point guard Damian Lillard.
According to ESPN, Lillard has "deep respect" for the Spurs organization.
San Antonio has a collection of young talented players and future draft picks to make a run for Lillard. The Spurs recently acquired Victor Wembanyama with their No. 1 pick during the 2023 NBA Draft.
Should the Spurs land the star point guard, Lillard and Wembanyama could catapult San Antonio to playoff contention for the first time since 2019.
Lillard officially requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers Saturday morning. His preferred destination is the Miami Heat, but the Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers will also make a run for the star guard.
By requesting a trade, Lillard will end his 10-year career with the Trail Blazers, where he established himself as one of the NBA's 75 greatest players in league history. In 769 career games, Lillard has averaged 25.2 points on .439/.372/.895 shooting splits, 6.7 assists and 4.2 rebounds.
During the Trail Blazers' 131-114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Feb. 26, Lillard scored a career-best 71 points. He became the ninth player in league history to score 70 points or more in a single game.
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