Damian Lillard and his agent, Aaron Goodwin, are meeting with the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday to discuss the franchise’s direction, according to sources. On Friday, the seven-time All-Star filmed himself smiling and laughing while listening to Will Smith’s “Miami” song on Instagram Live at a club in Paris, France.
Goodwin clarified the situation on Saturday, saying that Lillard was on a “working vacation” in Paris and was at a club when the DJ decided to play music with a Miami theme. The 11-year veteran guard mentioned the Miami Heat as his most-preferred team in a hypothetical trade scenario a few weeks ago.
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Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard and his agent Aaron Goodwin are meeting with the team today to discuss the franchise’s direction, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport. pic.twitter.com/mUgEDzEbsw
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 26, 2023
“The music was just a coincidence,” Goodwin said. “Damian’s not disrespectful. He’s not an instigator, so he’s not going to do anything out of character. There would be no reason for him to do that. That’s why he laughed [in the video]. It’s a funny coincidence that a DJ would put that on.”
Damian Lillard went live for approximately 15 minutes. Following the “Miami” song, the DJ played Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” which includes the lyrics, “I wanna feel the Heat with somebody.”
Damian Lillard, agent Aaron Goodwin are meeting with the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday to discuss the franchise’s future together
During a live segment on “The Dan Patrick Show,” TNT NBA Insider Chris Haynes opened up on Lillard’s future. “I think he will have a large part,” responded Haynes on whether the seven-time All-NBA member will have a say in where he plays next.
“I think they respect him enough for what he’s done for the organization,” he added. “Nets, Miami, and possibly Philly. But they [76ers] don’t have what it takes. I’ll leave it at the Nets and Miami.”
Earlier this month, Lillard was asked about his most-preferred destinations on Showtime’s “The Last Stand” with Brian Custer, in the event he asked Portland for a trade. “Miami, obviously,” replied Dame. “Miami is the obvious one. And Bam [Adebayo] is my dawg. Bam is my dawg for real. I mean, I think Miami is the obvious one.”
If Miami has to take back Jusuf Nurkic ($16.87M) alongside Damian Lillard ($45.6M), Heat would have to send out at least $56.83M in salary to trade match at 110% during new league year.
Could get there easily by sending: Herro ($27M), Lowry ($29.68M), and one of Jovic/Highsmith. https://t.co/TC0uk9o4jk
— Brian Goins (@byBrianGoins) June 26, 2023
In July 2019, Lillard signed a four-year, $176 million Designated Veteran Player extension with Portland. Last offseason, the guard inked a two-year, $121.77 million extension with the club.
His 2024-25 player option worth $48.79 million was exercised as part of his new contract extension. Damian Lillard earned $42,492,492 in 2022-23 and will make $45,640,084 in 2023-24.
