All the times Damian Lillard talked about his future in Portland: ‘I want to see it through here’

So when Lillard was asked that question Friday night, about becoming the first Blazer to have 40 and 10 in the Moda Center, his answer should catch your ear. “It’s always good to be the first one to do something,’’ Lillard said. “Especially being part of an organization I plan on being a part of for my entire career. It’s an honor, but I would have liked for it to be in a winning effort.’’

“Things get tough. It’s a tough league,’’ Lillard said. “You have ups and downs. We flipped our roster, man.  We completely flipped and got a brand new team. And I signed up to be a part of it. To be a part of the growth. I have to grow just as much as our team has to grow, and I’m excited about that, that’s why it’s not hard for me to say that’s what I want.’’

“(Wanting to leave) is the easy thing to do. It is. That’s the easy thing to do,’’ Lillard said. “I have always been the type of person, when things are hard, to not think about how hard it is now. I think about what it will be like when we get through this, and how it turns into what I want it to turn into. Then, that will be the ultimate satisfaction.’’

There have been a number of times where people have tweeted at you saying you should leave Portland for bigger market or that you should join their favorite team, and you’ve responded and shot it down. Can you see yourself playing your entire career with the Blazers?

Lillard: Definitely. I like living in Portland and I like the organization. It’s a great organization and they take care of us in every way possible. I’m happy with the situation that I’m in, and my family is happy with the situation and where we’re living. It’s a place where I’d want to play my entire career. Obviously, with this being a business, people’s feelings change about players. And players’ feelings change about organizations; I don’t think mine will, though, because I really like where I am and where I live and stuff like that. But you just never know.

…

Lillard: I like living in Portland and I like the organization. It’s a great organization and they take care of us in every way possible. I’m happy with the situation that I’m in, and my family is happy with the situation and where we’re living. It’s a place where I’d want to play my entire career. Obviously, with this being a business, people’s feelings change about players. And players’ feelings change about organizations; I don’t think mine will, though, because I really like where I am and where I live and stuff like that. But you just never know.

“I’ve seen my name thrown around,” said Lillard after Wednesday’s practice. “It’s a surprise, but then it’s not a surprise just because on the business side, it doesn’t surprise me. Sometimes people like to rock the boat, it could be a rumor. If there was any truth to it, then that would be disheartening, especially for me because I’m really invested in Portland. I want to be here. It’s been tough to attract stars to Portland, historically, for this organization. For me to be 26 years old and invested in Portland and want to be in Portland, I don’t see why (being traded) would make sense.”

Lillard, who grew up in Oakland, has bought into Portland as a home in a way no star player has since perhaps Porter, whose children grew up here, and who remains in the city as the head coach of the University of Portland. “My family is happy here,” Lillard said. “I’m happy with my situation here.”

Lillard signed a five-year, $140 million extension in 2015 that will keep him under contract through the 2020-21 season. In a rare move for a star of his caliber, he chose to forego a player option in the final year of his deal. It was a sign of his long-term commitment to seeing things through in Portland, a mindset he reiterated Monday at the team’s media day. “For me, I have never asked for a trade or been in a position where I was like, ‘I’m going to tell them to trade me,’ because I’m all about the challenge,” Lillard said. “But there’s also the other side: My family is happy here, I’m happy with my situation here. So if a situation was ever to come up, or if I felt disrespected, or I wasn’t valued, or they felt like it was time for me to move on, then that would be the time. But I don’t feel that way.”

“It will affect a lot of other people,” Lillard said of requesting trades, per Yahoo. “Like I’m saying, I do want to win a championship but there’s other stuff that means more to me. It’s almost like I’m not willing to sell myself out for that instead of impacting this.” Lillard also mentioned his relationships in Portland, saying that “I want to win a championship, I compete to win a championship, but I’ve learned that it’s about so many other things. I think a lot of people tell you just because you go out and win a championship … And then they look back and they’re like ‘man, this happened because of that, this happened because of that.’ When my career is over and I know the relationships that I’m gonna have, I’m going to know the people who knew I was solid with them … That I did it the right way.”

“I don’t care what the trend is,” Lillard told USA TODAY Sports. “Players are taking control of the power and influence they have. I don’t have an issue with it because there’s been times in the league that players didn’t have that and players were taken advantage of and put in tough situations. So I understand it. But I play for a great organization. I play for a great coach. I love where I live. I have a great situation.”

Do the Blazers have to make a big move before the deadline to keep his commitment in Portland? “That don’t have nothing to do with my commitment to the team,” Lillard said. “I mean, it’s not like we are going to do something that is going to take us to the championship at this point. I think it’s more important for us to protect the assets we have, the guys who are going to be here and who are going to help us going forward. I don’t think it makes sense to sacrifice that just to make a desperate play. “It’s been a tough season, but the season is not over. We can make something of this season as we are, but it’s not worth, you know, saying ‘OK, let’s force something and go do something that at the end of the day doesn’t make sense.’ But that has nothing to do with my commitment. I said it after last game (Golden State): I feel like I can find a way. I can weather the storm. I can go through hard times.”

On an episode of Million $ Worth of Game, Damian Lillard explained why he won’t be joining a Super Team during his NBA career. The Portland Trail Blazers star doesn’t criticize those around the league who make the choices to join a Super Team, but he’d prefer to take a more challenging and rewarding path. “I would never do that,” Lillard said. “I mean I don’t control—if the team decides to trade me somewhere, I can’t control that, but it ain’t for me.”

“I want to see it through here,’’ Lillard said. “And I want to see it through here more than I care to go somewhere else and just win it, period, you know? I feel like if I did go to another team and we won the championship, I would be obviously beyond happy and excited, but I don’t think it would be the same feeling as if I went through everything we went through here and worked for everything we worked for here. It wasn’t here. It would hit different for me here.’’

“I mean, I see every year when we get to this point as pivotal,” Lillard told The Athletic. “Because at every point, it’s an evaluation: Where do we go from here? Like, can we get the job done as we are? And if not, where do we go from here? What is the change that needs to be made? That’s just what it is. And I don’t know where that change comes from, you know, maybe we … I don’t know if it’s moving players, I don’t know if it’s a coaching change … whatever it is that happens in the NBA, the changes that are made when you look at the postseason and what you consider success and failure, and things like that, and what changes you have to make to improve or give yourself a better chance. I think we’ve done a lot, and I think every year we get to this point and it’s like ‘What is it that will get us to where we want to be?’

So on Monday, I reached out to Lillard via text message and asked him a series of questions: Where his head was at with the Blazers? Where he stood with Neil Olshey, the Blazers’ top executive? And where his mind was long-term in relation to Portland? I also asked: Was he still whole-heartedly on board here, or was he starting to waver? Lillard’s two-sentence response was polite, and he finished by writing: “I have no comments about anything.” – The Athletic

Numerous times in the past Damian Lillard has affirmed he has no intention of wanting to be traded from the Portland Trail Blazers. Dealing with a fresh round of speculation in the wake of a coaching change, Lillard said Thursday he’ll keep his thoughts on the direction of the team between himself and the franchise.

“Anything that I have to say, I’m going to say directly to [Blazers general manager] Neil [Olshey] and I’m going to address it directly with my team,” Lillard said after the third day of Team USA training camp in Las Vegas. “There’s really nothing else I have to say about it.”

The question on everyone’s mind: Is Lillard going to ask out and leave PDX? So someone asked him when Lillard was on Instagram Live Tuesday night, and this was his response: “I’m not leaving PDX, not right now at least.”

Lillard left the conversations inspired, encouraged and enamored. What he saw in his new coach was what he saw in himself. “I think a big part of (my change in mindset) was me and Chauncey’s conversations, and where we see things the same,” Lillard told The Athletic. “I’m not going to share details of our conversations, but it’s not often when I speak to people that they see what I see. Watching a game, observing people … there’s not many people who see what I see. But a lot of what I see, he sees. So that was very important to me. Like, that was a big deal.”

“Honestly, it doesn’t shift my focus either way,” Lillard said. “During starting lineups, they were booing everybody and then they cheered when I came through. I thought that was funny. That comes with professional sports. It’s fun, it’s a public thing, so I’m not uptight about it or acting like I don’t recognize it. “I know what it is and I know what it’s about. But I’m a Trail Blazer. I appreciate the love. I appreciate the respect that they showed and the desire or whatever but I’m 10 toes in Rip City, and I’ve said that time and time again and tonight I laughed about it during starting lineups but that was that.”

But an accurate assessment, post-deadline, of Lillard’s commitment to the only team he’s played for over his 10 seasons in the league? For those still wondering, or holding out hope that he wants out of Portland? Especially after the organization completely revamped the roster? That we can provide with 100 percent certainty. Because we asked him for an update. “I’m loyal to what I believe,” Lillard tells Complex Sports. “I do love living in Portland. I do love playing for the Trail Blazers. But I’ve built this. I’ve been part of this for 10 years. I’ve been part of the change here and us being a successful franchise. I know what means something to me in my heart. And that’s winning a championship here.”

But after uncertainty around his future with the team surfaced last summer, Lillard watched the Blazers go through a turbulent transition on and off the court in the 2021-22 NBA season. Still, he wants to stay. “I have no plans of not being a Portland Trail Blazer,” said Lillard. “I want to be here, and I think they want me here.”

Damian Lillard, the 11-year Trail Blazer great who’s known no NBA home but Portland, was asked Monday what advice he’d give to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder’s 24-year-old franchise cornerstone. “The grass is not always greener on the other side,” said Lillard, addressing the trade and ask-out rumors he’s deflected over the years.

“I’m confused why you all are asking me these questions right now, honestly. I respect it, but the bottom line is, we at the mid-way point of the season and we’re struggling right now, we’re not playing really well, we’ve been in a lot of these games, none of these games are just like we getting blown away. So i think as far as basketball goes there are things we can do to be better and we win some of these games. The struggles that we’ve had are obvious but I don’t think it’s fair for you all to be asking these questions right now. I think that’s kind of a weak move. Our team is struggling and I’ve been transparent about our struggles and stuff that we can do better. But you all are putting me in a position to answer questions and I don’t think that’s cool.” “I think that’s a lack of respect putting me in that position.”

Clutch Points: “Plotting on a ring they say I should do the Lakers. F*ck that loyal sh*t. What if Reggie [Miller] just left the Pacers?” —Damian Lillard, Heaven or Hell Freestyle Thoughts?