Damian Lillard returning to Portland Trailblazers on a 3-year $42M deal

WQAM-AM / AM 560 Sports WQAM

Damian Lillard is returning to the Portland Trailblazers on a 3-year $42M deal with a no trade clause. The Miami Heat were reportedly not interested in signing Damian Lillard. Is Tobin upset over missing out on Dame once again?

Transcript

00:00yesterday after i uh i i was able to power my way through another heat summer league game

00:07we get the new power your way through i powered my way through it you made you you made it sound

00:13like you're taking your morning vitamins when you were a kid it it felt like i was taking my

00:18morning vitamins watching miami heat summer league with and not not we're not talking about

00:22the flintstones vitamins either that you just chew up no the ones that yeah the one that tastes like

00:27dirt terrible yeah that one that your mom tried to mix into all the other nice ones yeah the uh

00:37the my the uh the news comes out that damian lillard is returning to the portland trailblazers

00:45on a three-year deal 42 million dollars has a player option that last year now finally has a

00:53no trade clause now he has no trade clause anyway he returns to portland he's obviously not going to

01:02play this year well most people think he's not going to play this year he's coming out he has a

01:06torn achilles and he's going back home he's going to stay in portland and reportedly the heat wasn't

01:15interested there was one report that said there wasn't they weren't interested in bringing damian

01:19lillard back uh i certainly don't think the heat to the tune of 14 million extra dollars a year

01:24we're going to pay damian lillard i just don't think they were going to do that

01:28um but i'm just speculating they're in no position this this organization and this team

01:34is in no damn position to pay a guy that's not going to play next year yeah and i think that

01:42for the blazers it's like you know the blazers kind of turned things around last year in the

01:48second half but they're not like a good team and you know this is this is a cool thing for him and

01:56it's a cool thing for their fans i saw heat fans get upset about this because it's like how could

02:00you go back to joe cronin dude how could lebron james go back to dan gilbert i don't know like they

02:06barely probably have to interact with these people he's going to go back to his adoring fans and the

02:10number one thing is he wanted to be with his kids he's not playing this year he's he's he's out for

02:16the entire season didn't want to be halfway across or completely across the country certainly in miami

02:21away from his children uh that was part of the reason why the bucks apparently got frosty on him

02:27is that he didn't want to rehab in milwaukee he wanted to rehab in portland and so now he gets to do

02:34that uh it was an unfortunate breakup that they had but like i don't even come close to comparing

02:42this to him not landing with the miami heat that was me wanting to jump out a window like i i mean

02:50damian lillard pairing up with bam out of bio and jimmy butler off a finals run that's a perfect fit

02:58i think even with this team pairing them up with bam out of bio and tyler hero and you already have

03:04drafted a point guard you just paid davion mitchell and this is mind you he's not going to play all

03:08year i don't understand why the heat fan was upset about this this was very strange to me yesterday

03:13upset that they didn't try to get him yeah that they swung him they didn't get him again

03:19100 dude contrary to positive belief

03:23100 plus million for a guy that's going to sit on the bench

03:28and coach was spoke for a year it's not ideal when you only had 37 wins last year

03:35especially yeah if he didn't really want to be down here you know like that's the other thing is

03:41like if he wanted to be by his family and so like are you going to be in touch with him it's just like

03:45hey 14 million for the year we're gonna say we'll see you next year i feel like truly the heat fans

03:50just pissed about everything right now and rightfully so i get it the heat the heat are in a spot right

03:53now where the fans have justifiable angst towards the organization but i also feel like if it came

04:01out that the heat gave damian lillard 42 million extra guaranteed i feel like that gets hosed down

04:07by the fan base too

04:08no i mean brady would you have been more upset by the heat are you more upset by the heat not

04:17getting damian lillard again or if they would have given damian lillard on a torn achilles at 35 years

04:22old 42 extra million dollars guaranteed i would have been more upset if they signed him for sure

04:271000 well because it listen if they were willing to sign damian lillard to have him sit for a year

04:36i would have took my chances with jimmy well no i mean but i'm just saying at least that's like

04:43moot point because jimmy is already is already gone but i feel like what it shows me is that like

04:50you don't have a winning right now mentality which i understand that we've already been shown that

04:54they don't have that considering that they're not making these massive moves but you're you're going

05:00to bring a player who's aging and who's coming off who's going to be sitting out for a year who's

05:05injured who's going to be coming off an achilles injury for 40 million dollars to sit on our bench

05:10free i just don't think that that would that would have made me more upset like the news i'm go to

05:14portland let him you know reconcile with them and and you know and his career there is what i'm

05:19assuming he's probably going to do i was if they would have did that i won't don't want to hear about

05:23no damn aprons no aprons you don't that is that is that is i'm signing him and i don't care about

05:30the apron move exactly that would and the other thing is like yeah it's one of these things where

05:35it's like oh yeah if damian little would have come here on like the mini or 5 million a year

05:40oh yeah for sure but that's like 15 million 14 million a year for a guy at that age off the

05:47worst injury in the sport and you don't even know how that's gonna fit with tyler hero like i i i

05:55i don't know guys like look again i love damian lillard i'm happy for damian lillard ultimately

06:01because i think this is a cool story i remember what it was like we were on the air live when the

06:05news came that duane wade was traded back to miami and it was a very healing thing i think damian

06:13lillard rightfully was like hey you guys are going in this tank direction i'm gonna be 33 can i go and

06:21have this opportunity to go play where i want to play joe cronin's still a rat bastard make no mistake

06:27he could still kick the sharpest of rocks but i understand like damian little being like well i'm

06:32gonna fleece this organization for a lot more guaranteed money they now can't trade me i can

06:37be home and have peace and if if by some reason he does want to move on now he gets to dictate where

06:44he wants to go finally but i mean he'll probably be 36 at that point and maybe it's an entire like

06:49conspiracy of to you know eventually get what he wants yeah maybe it could be good for him and good

06:54for him with what they did to him i i think that's good for him like i said i just think i i thought it

07:00was just a strange a strange thing to to be uh upset with the heat about this like i think that

07:07the heat fan would have been like more enraged if they would have given him that kind of money

07:11and i think for for people criticizing lillard like you know what did you so you see like if he would

07:17have gone to the celtics okay that i think would have legitimately like that would have perturbed me

07:22i don't like that but to go back home to be with your kids and you you you you you took him to

07:30the woodshed for 40 more million dollars i mean like that's that's a that's a that's a pretty great

07:38deal that he got that's a that's a pretty great deal and a pretty great setup that he's got it's

07:43almost like they paid him to apologize yeah it's definitely a sorry contract i mean and also

07:49we're sorry because they still got their star back and they got him for four players and picks like

07:56you know what i mean it's still like it they won and that's a weird dynamic right there that's the

08:01weirdest part of that they got the guy they traded for four for picks back and they still get to keep

08:08all the picks and stuff they got exactly so it's like they they ended up coming out on top in the

08:13situation and the bucks are the ones that are you know did it well the bucks once you do that

08:18i mean like it might as well be a fire sale yeah but we'll see you know like that's that's

08:26maybe that's what shark was talking about huh maybe maybe that's what shark was talking about

08:31you know maybe but i just i'm happy for dane i like when the when the duane way news happened it

08:40it was a really great feeling for the fan base it didn't look right to see duane in other uniforms

08:46it happened and his breakup happened for the wrong reasons it happened for feelings for money

08:51he should have been taken care of yep there was some justifiable annoyance with him choosing to go

08:58to cleveland after his chicago buyout because i think he knew that like he he knew that his fan

09:04his fan base wasn't going to like that but i also think that duane looked at miami in that scenario

09:10and was like yeah they got josh richardson they got goron they got deon waiters they're coming off

09:15this weird season do i want to go there do i want to just stick my foot in there is that going to make

09:18a lot of sense and you know that team inevitably wasn't very good and you know you had philly cheese fat

09:27cat syndrome and you had uh and you had jay rich stepping out of bounds left and right and so it

09:32came at the perfect time because they they needed duane way to to be you know a guy to take over the

09:38reins but you know that that it just felt right that he was back with the heat it felt like it felt

09:47like a guy getting his superpowers back he didn't look happy in cleveland and so i think for dame

09:52you spend these two years it's like and the thing is the the evil genius of joe cronin here was like

09:58when he traded him to the bucks you know it's not where he wanted to be but you couldn't really

10:03bitch about it because it's like i'm pairing him with janice it's not like i didn't do right by him

10:07which you know joe cronin again you could still kick the sharpest rocks but you know now that but

10:14it's like it didn't work out it flamed out terribly and especially with the idea that that dude came back

10:20from a blood clot last year to go play in the playoffs and his reward for that was well we'll

10:25see you we got to sign miles turner yeah you know so good for him to get some some level of happiness

10:31back because the fans are going to love him everybody on that lot in that locker room is going

10:36to love him and you know he's not going to play all year it's it's so he has this whole year of like

10:42being comfortable instead it's like you're not in this ramp up process with some new organization

10:48but i i had like zero bad feelings about this from uh from a heat fans perspective i was actually

10:54happy when the news broke i was kind of oh i felt good i was like oh i felt like damien lillard i

10:59really do like damien lillard i think we all we all feel the same way about dame like yeah we wanted

11:05them we don't want them now but there's no love you know we we don't feel any less of damien lillard

11:13because he's not with the heat um and in fact when i mean i felt terrible when he tore his achilles

11:20terrible right i felt bad because he's a good dude he ain't never he ain't cause no problems in fact

11:26when he wanted to be traded he tried to handle it like a pro and you know tell the team what he

11:32wanted thinking they would do the right thing and they kind of didn't no they didn't and and the

11:37thing that sucks is you bring him here and then from the other perspective is like it kind of

11:43represents the end of the jimmy butler era when that trade didn't go through like once you didn't

11:47get him and you're like in this spot of like oh well we're gonna bring tyler back he kind of knew

11:53we were trying to trade him he you brought all these guys who were in the trade talks and you had

11:59this awkward situation and then jimmy decides to basically like say you know he's like yelling at

12:03the bucks for tampering and then like he coasts through the season and he's you know it just it

12:09just represented all of the stuff where it was like oh this this championship window whatever it was

12:14that signified the end of it and boston got better because boston got drew holiday so if you were going

12:21to bring him back in this scenario where he was going to be you know rehabbing and then you hope like

12:26hell it fits with your two guys now i don't know i think that's a dicey proposition especially at

12:32his age so hopefully this brings him a lot of peace hopefully this brings him happiness

12:36and uh i just think for the heat yeah it was it was time to to move on from this i didn't i didn't

12:41really have any ill will towards damien lillard about this at all no there's been like there's been

12:47certain moves in sports where you just kind of look at the situation and go good for him right and

12:56that's and it's like is it has nothing to do with your team but it has to do with how much love

13:02you have for that player and and and so i think for the most part if you go around the league

13:08everybody loves dame lillard right so good for him

13:12everyone loves you so that it's been there's been a bit of traffic extended it's been an end of the league

13:18because i think for the older you know if you just want to come up with where you want to and

13:24understand that um what you want to pass everything so good as a 10 year old song that i think about

13:27the Lord and my dad is just like 30 year old so you have to really compare that 150 year old and

13:32you know we think we're like maybe what's going on okay or can i hope an over easter

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