The Portland Trail Blazers asked Damian Lillard to sit out the final 10 games of the 22-23 season in order to improve their lottery odds, sources tell Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.

Lillard was told that the higher the draft pick the Blazers end up with at the lottery, the better chance they had to use the pick to trade for a proven veteran player.

Lillard agreed reluctantly with a calf injury.

The Blazers went 1-9 to finish the season and moved up to No. 3, which they used on Scoot Henderson.