Report: Blazers committed major NBA rules violation

Dec 16, 2019; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Lost in all the hype surrounding the Damian Lillard blockbuster trade to the Milwaukee Bucks is the revelation that Portland reportedly committed a major NBA rules violation.

Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes published a lengthy column Thursday about the circumstances surrounding the Lillard trade. Among other revelations, Haynes reports that the Trail Blazers asked Lillard to help their tanking efforts by agreeing to fabricate an injury so he could be shut down late in the season. Intentionally losing — or not giving a best effort to win games — is against league rules.

Here is what Haynes reported in his article.

“Portland had asked Lillard to sit out the final 10 games of the 2022-23 regular season to help the franchise improve its lottery odds. He was told the higher the draft pick, the better chance they had at using the pick to facilitate a trade for a proven veteran player. He reluctantly acquiesced to being shut down, citing a ‘calf injury.'”

A report like that is enough for the league to open an investigation into the Blazers for allegedly fabricating a calf injury for Lillard.

Lillard’s camp likely made the revelation to Haynes, probably because they were upset with the Blazers for not accomodating the star player’s trade request. Lillard sought to be traded to the Miami Heat, but the Blazers reportedly refused to engage in trade talks with the Eastern Conference team. Instead, they ended up dealing Lillard to one of his two secondary choices — the Milwaukee Bucks. He had another interesting team he was open to being traded to.

Lillard was a team player when the Blazers wanted to shut him down, but he likely feels they didn’t reciprocate when he wanted things to go his way. Portland also likely upset Lillard by making clear their intention to rebuild rather than use the draft pick to acquire a veteran player.