When Damian Lillard took over the Trail Blazers‘ Twitter account on Monday evening for a Q&A with fans, most of the questions and his responses were fairly innocuous. However, one of Lillard’s answers had to be deleted after the fact.
As Nico Martinez of Fadeaway World details (hat tip to NBC Sports), when asked which former teammate he’d like to have on the current Trail Blazers roster, Lillard replied, “I’d add LaMarcus (Aldridge).”
That sort of comment wouldn’t be a big deal if Lillard said it during a Zoom or Instagram Live session, but the NBA may not take kindly to him making it on the Trail Blazers’ official Twitter account. The league introduced new anti-tampering measures last year and Lillard’s tweet – by way of the Blazers’ account – arguably violates those rules.
Although the tweet has since been removed, it’s sure to fuel speculation about an eventual reunion between the Trail Blazers and Aldridge, which has been a topic of discussion multiple times in recent years. For what it’s worth, Aldridge himself responded to Lillard’s tweet with an eyes emoji.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Once it became clear that Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas wanted the Bulls‘ head of basketball operations job, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly organized mock interview sessions to help him make a good impression in his actual meeting, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post. “It was amazing,” said Karnisovas, who was officially hired by Chicago on Monday. “It’s a prep, but that’s what I’m all about. I like to be all prepared. We prepared for all the questions and we covered all the bases. He helped me out.”
- Nick Kosmider and John Hollinger of The Athetic take an in-depth look at the state of the Nuggets, examining what steps are necessary to turn Denver from a strong playoff team into a legitimate title contender.
- In his third NBA season and second with the Thunder, Abdel Nader improved his shooting efficiency and made major strides on the defensive end, writes Logan Meyer of Daily Thunder. Oklahoma City is in position to keep Nader for one more year before he reaches free agency — he has a minimum-salary team option for 2020/21.
Hollinger seems to be taking over at The Athletic, but not with the same effect as Zach Lowe at espn. Also a couple essentially negative comments from me on his articles got deleted.
This article on Denver is the usual bloated conventional wisdom seen being raised in comment sections repeatedly. No actual new suggestions were advanced– or more accurately, risked by the writer. (“Get Beal” does not count as an idea.)
He did not address why Beasley & Juancho were traded (team defense), just credited Beasley for scoring ability and called it a loss. He does not seem aware the FO has been interested in D. He did not have an explanation for Harris’s fall-off. There was no breakdown of the intracacies of the team cap/FA situation. Plumlee was called less important because he lacks positional flexibility, but he has done well at the 4 when required, and he’s a leader.
Of course one can’t blame Hollinger for taking jobs, or not being honest. The Griz did not get over the hump, but most teams don’t.
Well there’s no mystery why Harris’ game has fallen off. Him and Eric Gordon, any contact and their body will shatter. They’re coasting to maximize their earnings
Please take LMA back Portland. Don’t fine Dame for saying, someone give him $50 for starting the movement.
Not that he’s been horrible with the Spurs, but it REALLY is time to reset, and that can’t happen until he and DDR are both out of town.