NBA Rumors: Trail Blazers Don't Plan To Move On From Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum

(via Blazer's Edge)

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The 2021 NBA offseason presents a lot of questions for the Portland Trail Blazers. They need to boost their squad to compete for the NBA championship next year, or Damian Lillard will force his way out of the franchise. 

A lot has been said on this situation, with Dame linked with several teams around the league. Just like the point guard, CJ McCollum could be leaving the team this summer, but none of that is part of the Blazers' plans this summer. 

According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, neither Lillard nor McCollum will leave the organization this year. 

The Blazers have shown no inkling they intend to move on from Damian Lillard or C.J. McCollum, and have a slew of their own free agents—Norman Powell, most notably, plus guaranteeing the $12 million for the final year of Jusuf Nurkic’s contract, which Portland is expected to do—to deal with. Ex-Blazer Nicolas Batum is on the Blazers radar, per a source, with Portland projecting to be limited with what it can spend by its $5.3 million mid-level exception.

Portland is trying to land exciting pieces to build around Dame Dolla. Initially, it looked like trading McCollum to get good players in return was a very good idea for them. However, the front office doesn't want to split their star duo and will try different ways to land good assets.

This summer will be very important for the franchise if they want to keep competing in the Western Conference. It remains to be seen how this strategy works for them and if this is enough to keep Lillard on the roster.