Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge downplayed any issues between them and that their relationship was part of the reason Aldridge decided to leave the Portland Trail Blazers for the San Antonio Spurs.

"Our relationship was fine," Lillard said. "Me and LA never had an argument. People are searching for something that’s not there. When you have two All-Stars on the same team and one of them decides to leave, it’s automatically, ‘They didn’t get along.’ We had back-to-back 50-win seasons. We both made the All-Star team. We played through him and after that it was me and that was that. We played well together. We never had an issue."

Neil Olshey also decided to rebuild the Blazers with a number of younger players to support Lillard, which he ran by Lillard beforehand.

"This was not done without Dame’s participation," Olshey said. "If he was at all reticent, if he said it would be great if you could get me another vet to help out, we would have gone out and found a couple of other guys to take the pressure off of him. He’s not that kind of kid. He embraces it. He thrives on it."