Disgruntled Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard would veto a trade to his hometown team — the Golden State Warriors.
“As far as Golden State, like I respect what they’ve been doing over the last eight, nine years or whatever, and I’m from there obviously that’s home, but I can’t go be a part of that,” Lillard said on the September 19 episode of “It Is What It Is.”
“They won four championships. What [would] I look like going to try to do that and say ‘Oh, I’m joining my home team’ like no [I wouldn’t do that].”
In short, he’d never do what Kevin Durant did in 2016, leading to two championships with the Warriors.
“If I’m Kevin Durant, I’ve said this plenty of times before I think KD is, obviously, one of the greatest players of all time, but if I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t have done that personally like it’s the team that [he] just lost to, it’s a team that has won once,” Lillard said.
The seven-time All-Star point guard added that it doesn’t make sense for him to join the Warriors, whose franchise star, Stephen Curry, plays the same position as he does.
“[Curry’s] somebody that played my position, that’s behind LeBron [James], the best player of this era… [I’d rather] lose every year before I go [there],” Lillard said.
Lillard is 0-3 against the Warriors in the playoffs, including two sweeps in the Western Conference Finals in 2019 and the first round in 2017.
The Oakland native is trying to force his way to the East Coast instead and join the Miami Heat, who have lost twice in the NBA Finals over the last four seasons.
Warriors Begin Extension Talks with Klay Thompson
Negotiation for a contract extension between the Warriors and Klay Thompson is already underway, according to ESPN’s senior reporter Ramona Shelburne.
“My understanding is that they have opened contract extension talks with Klay Thompson,” Shelburne said on the September 15 episode of “The Lowe Post” podcast. “They’ve exchanged proposals. There’s been no hurry to these discussions.”
Thompson is entering the final season of his five-year, $190 million deal with the Warriors and stands to earn $43 million this season. The Warriors wanted to keep him, but they’re hoping Thompson gives them a discount after awarding him a max contract while recovering from back-to-back lower leg injuries in 2019.
“The money is going to be the question and how that fits with the new CBA, the new restrictions that implies,” Shelburne said. “I know that the Warriors feel very strongly about keeping Klay Thompson and Draymond Green alongside Steph Curry, and it’s the Warriors who feel that way, but that place they arrived at is in strong consultation with Mr. Curry.”
Warriors Sign Usman Garuba to 2-Way Deal
The Warriors have signed Houston Rockets‘ 2021 first-round pick Usman Garuba on a two-way deal, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater.
The Spanish big man joins Dominican-American Lester Quiñones on the Warriors’ two-way slots. They can sign up to three two-way players next season.
The 6-foot-10 Garuba saw limited time in his first two seasons in the NBA with the Rockets, averaging only 2.8 points and 3.9 rebounds in 12.2 minutes off the bench across 99 games.
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Damian Lillard Reveals Reason Why He’d Never Join Warriors