Portland drafted Scoot Henderson as the overall number three pick on Wednesday and all eyes are now on Damian Lillard.
Dame made it very clear he doesn’t want to stick around if the team goes into a rebuild or wait two or three years for young talent to develop.
By selecting Scoot and not trading him, the Blazers have put Lillard’s future under a cloud.
“As of right now, all signs point to Scoot Henderson being there,” NBA Insider Shams Charania said. “I’m told several teams, including the New Orleans Pelicans, reached out and Portland showed no interest in moving him.”
As for Lillard, he is set to give Portland more time to build a contending team and will take the next week to mull it all over, Shams says.
“I’m told the timeline for when the future will land with Damian Lillard likely extends now between tonight and the start of free agency and into free agency,” said Charania.
On Henderson’s part, he is very keen to play with Dame and said as much after he went number three.
“Yeah, I’m hoping to get to play with Dame, for sure,” Henderson said. “Special talent, special guard. One of my favorites to watch, especially film-wise. Just to pick out how he moves off the court, as well. Yeah, it would be cool to play with him.”
Lillard has dominated the headlines for weeks, especially after he said if he had to pick any team to go to he would choose Miami.
All the speculation of Dame leaving may be in vein though, because apparently Lillard and Scoot have been in contact.
Scoot said he texted Dame after he was drafted, so maybe Dame will stick around after all.
Lillard will be 33 in July and signed a two-year $122 million extension in 2022 that takes him up to the 25-26 season with the Trail Blazers.
Unless he asks for a trade of course.
Watch this space.