Damian Lillard responds to April Fool’s joke about him wanting trade to Lakers

Wednesday, April 1, is April Fool’s Day, which means accounts throughout NBA Twitter are going to do their best to dupe people into believing something that isn’t true. At this point, you’d think people are old enough to know better, but there are always a handful of people that fall for today’s tricks. Unfortunately, for the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers All-Star guard Damian Lillard isn’t one of them.

On Wednesday, a Twitter account by the name of @lalakersuk tweeted that Lillard has requested a trade and listed the Lakers as one of his preferred destinations the same way Paul George did in 2017 and Kawhi Leonard did in 2018. As we all know, George and Leonard now play in Los Angeles, but with the Clippers — not the Lakers. Judging by Lillard’s reaction to @lalakersuk’s tweet, he has no intention of playing for the Lakers, either.

Lillard has been with the Trail Blazers since they drafted him with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, and he’s been pretty vocal about wanting to win a championship in Portland as opposed to joining or building a contender elsewhere. Lillard showed his commitment to the Trail Blazers (and vice versa) last summer, when he signed a four-year, super max contract extension for $196 million.

That being said, he’s also shown signs of fraying in recent years. In 2018, Lillard met with Paul Allen, the late former owner of the Trail Blazers, to discuss the direction of the organization and his place in it. If the Trail Blazers — currently 3.5 games back of the No. 8 seed — miss the postseason for the first time since Lillard’s rookie season, Lillard will likely touch base with the team’s management again.

The Lakers don’t have the assets to trade for Lillard, but it’s fun to think about Logo Lillard teaming up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. And who knows? In 2024, Davis and a 40-year-old James could recruit Lillard to Los Angeles — anything is possible!

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