Damian Lillard Quashes Links To Lakers, Says He Loves Portland

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard insists he is happy where he is amid rumors of a potential move to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lillard made headlines after some of his tweets in recent days. First, he expressed his disappointment when former teammate Ed Davis joined the Brooklyn Nets on a one-year deal as a free agent.

He would then cryptically reply to a tweet asking whether he would be happy to be traded to the Lakers to play alongside new signing LeBron James.

Although he later retweet a pro-Blazers post and mentioned how the media will stretch his response to the tweet about the Lakers, reports started emerging that a move to the Lakers was more than just speculation.

The 27-year-old, who has three years left on his current deal, experienced his best season last year as his average of 26.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists helped the Trail Blazers finish the regular season as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, though they would be swept by the New Orleans Pelicans during the first round of the playoffs.

ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith reported that while he was happy in Portland, the Oakland native was open to a move to either the Lakers or the New York Knicks to win a championship if he felt the Trail Blazers did not improve their team.

However on Sunday, Lillard quashed any rumors of a departure as he maintained he was happy in Portland.

"I’m straight up. I’m straight up with coach, I’m straight up with Neil, straight up with you all," Lillard told a media gathering, according to NBC Sports. "I’m not unhappy. I love where I live. I love the organization. I love our coaching staff. I love where I am."

But is he happy with the direction the Trail Blazers are going in? Apparently so, despite their departures which along with Davis, also includes Shabazz Napier and Pat Connaughton. They have since added rookies Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent Jr. along with Seth Curry.

"Like I said last year, it’s the urgency of wanting to make those steps in the right direction so we can compete," Lillard explained. "We got people out here going all out to try and make it happen, and I want us to do the same thing. And I feel like we are trying to do that."

“Obviously, I loved Ed. He was one of my best friends in the league; one of favorite teammates I’ve played with. We lose him – that’s a loss for our team. Bazz played big minutes for us, Pat played big minutes for us – so we lose three rotation players that gave us a lot and contributed to our season last year. But I guess now we look forward to who can come in and replace those minutes and give us that type of quality," he added.

With LeBron James joining the Lakers, Chris Paul being retained by the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors adding DeMarcus Cousins to their ranks, things just got harder for the rest of the Western Conference teams. But Lillard will do his best to get them as far as possible.

“As far as where we fit in there – you all know how I operate – I’m going to get us in (the playoffs) and that’s how it’s going to go," he added.