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Interested parties are waiting for Damian Lillard to make a decision.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, at least three teams won't trade for the six-time All-Star until he makes a formal demand.
The team knows that if they ask for it, they will lose some leverage in the asking price. Philadelphia made an offer, but New York did not. Rival teams say that the star's camp had real concerns about the extension to ownership, and that the star's reps offered mixed messages on the star's intentions to stay or go.
The four-year, $176.3 extension that Lillard is going to get this year kicks in when he is signed through the 25th season. An exit from Portland is becoming more likely.
In the last five years, the Portland Trail blazers have failed to get out of the first round of the NBA playoffs, and they hired Chauncey Billups as their head coach. Portland is 10th in the Western Conference and could be a challenge to make the playoffs.
As if the on-court difficulties aren't enough to make Lillard question his long-term future in Portland, the organization is in the process of finding a replacement for Olshey, who was fired following an investigation into workplace culture.
According to The Athletic's Sam Amick and Shams Charania, Lillard isn't signaling to the front office that he wants to leave now, but he laid out some issues he'd like to see addressed.
Lillard wants to give the Trail blazers time to find their next leader of basketball operations. The face of the franchise still wants changes to the roster. Multiple sources have told The Athletic that Ben Simmons would like to play with Damian Lillard. Sharing a backcourt with a non-shooter would improve the Trail Blazers' defense, and it would work given the usage of Damian Lillard.
The search for Olshey's permanent replacement is complicated by the fact that he wants to sign a two-year, $107 million extension on top of his current deal.
There's no enthusiasm to grant Lillard his massive extension contract through the 2026-27 season, among several top-level GM candidates who fit the profile of Portland's applicant pool. Several executives said they would be more interested in the job of the Blazers with the blessing of the ownership.
If you want to be a GM, you might want to start a rebuild instead of making short-term moves for a roster that might have reached its ceiling. The Blazers don't have the trade assets to land another marquee star, and acquiring Simmons may not move the needle based on his disastrous playoff showing last year.
Other NBA teams smell blood in the water.
If they don't make the playoffs, the bargaining power at the table could be lost.
