As late as September, former Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard was willing to return to the team, rescinding his early-summer trade request to the Miami Heat, but the franchise told him he could not remain. That bombshell was dropped by Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report in an extensive piece covering the trade that sent Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks this week.
Haynes, long the best source for information on Portland’s former franchise-leading guard, detailed Lillard’s request to join the Heat—made public at the start of July—and the blunted negotiations that followed throughout the summer.
Haynes then relays that Lillard and Trail Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin met privately at Lillard’s home on September 5th to update and clarify their positions.