Blazers willing to wait months to resolve Lillard saga

LAS VEGAS — Damian Lillard wants to be traded to the Miami Heat. The Portland Trail Blazers know this yet haven't abandoned hope that the seven-time All-Star changes his mind.

And whether he does or not, the Blazers insist that they're in no hurry.

General manager Joe Cronin, at the news conference where the team unveiled its new five-year, $160 million contract with Jerami Grant, spoke at length about the impasse with Lillard. He offered no specifics on talks — not negotiating publicly — and revealed that he hasn't spoken with Lillard since the franchise cornerstone asked to be traded.

"We're going to be patient," Cronin said Monday. "We're going to do what's best for our team. We're going to see, you know, how this lands. And if it takes months, it takes months."

Lillard's trade request became publicly known on July 1, the first full day of free agency in the NBA. After the Blazers revealed that Lillard — who has spent all 11 of his pro seasons in Portland — asked out, agent Aaron Goodwin confirmed days later that the seven-time All-NBA selection wants to go to Miami.

"Dame's position won't change," Goodwin told The Associated Press last week. "This entire situation was about building an opportunity for Portland to win or giving him another opportunity that he wants, which is Miami."

The entire matter is complicated on so many levels — that the trade request became public, that Lillard wants to be traded only to Miami (he doesn't have a no-trade clause, and Portland is under no obligation to honor that request), that he is beloved as an all-time great in Portland and that not having him on the roster simply means the team probably won't have enough to truly compete in the loaded Western Conference.

"As a team, you always hope that you have more options," Cronin said. "To have limited options like that, I wouldn't call it frustrating, but it prevents you from perhaps getting the best return. So, it's something that we'll have to work through."

And in his eyes, there's still hope that Lillard changes his mind — although there's been no indication that will happen.

"I haven't lost hope, just because I understand this league is complicated and things change very quickly sometimes," Cronin said.

The Blazers have a core of young talent – Anfernee Simons just turned 24, Shaedon Sharpe is going into his second season after being the No. 7 pick in 2022 and point guard Scoot Henderson is entering the league as the No. 3 pick in this draft. Cronin said he gets why Lillard would look at the Blazers, as currently constructed, and feel like there isn't a clear path to contending for a title this coming season.

Portland re-signed restricted free against Matisse Thybulle after matching an offer from the Dallas Mavericks. Terms of the deal for the guard/forward were not disclosed. Dallas reportedly offered Thybulle a three-year deal worth $33 million.

Spurs shut down Wembanyama

LAS VEGAS — Victor Wembanyama’s first, and likely last, Summer League is over.

The San Antonio Spurs said Monday that they have seen all they needed from the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft and won’t play him during their remaining games in Las Vegas.

Wembanyama’s final numbers from two games: 36 points, 20 rebounds, eight blocks and three assists on 41% shooting from the floor. He played about 54 minutes.

The shutdown wasn’t a surprise; the Spurs never planned for Wembanyama to play the entirety of Summer League, and now they’ll have a chance to use the minutes he would have gotten to take a look at other players.

“I’m going to sit down with the Spurs to know what the next months are going to be like,” Wembanyama said Sunday night after what became his summer finale. “When to go on vacation, when to start back working out, where I’m going to practice, in San Antonio or somewhere else. I just know I’ve got two to three months — two to three great months — that are coming and they’re going to change my life.”

Shutting him down from games — San Antonio has either three or four games left in Las Vegas — starts what will be a needed break for the 19-year-old from France whose last professional season in his homeland started nearly a year ago. He was in the French playoffs up until a few days before the draft in June, and his schedule has been crazed since.

Put simply, the Spurs believe he needs a chance to rest and reset to get ready for training camp that starts in early October and then an 82-game regular season.

Silver talks of league keeping eye on gambling

LAS VEGAS — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Monday that he believes all leagues have to continue keeping an incredibly close eye on gambling trends within their sport, mindful of issues that the NFL in particular has had to address in recent months.

Silver — who has been a longtime proponent of legalized sports betting frameworks within sports — spoke in Las Vegas, part of a moderated discussion as part of the Associated Press Sports Editors convention. He said he draws the analogy to insider trading, and how leagues, he believes, are finding ways to stay ahead of major problems.

“I think that public markets worked very well in this country," Silver said. “But the other side of a public market is the potential for insider trading. And there’s very sophisticated algorithms, etc., that track it. It’s not that different in sports now, especially when you get higher volumes of betting. You have very sophisticated computers; when they see aberrational betting ... you’re going to get caught.”

The NFL recently suspended four players for violations of its gambling policy; three received at least yearlong bans for betting on NFL games and one a six-game suspension for wagering on non-NFL games. It brings the total to 10 players disciplined over the past two years as that league vowed to increase training efforts across the board with an eye toward protecting the integrity of the game.

“I think there’s a responsibility for these leagues to invest more education, not just our own players, but of young people who might be doing something inappropriate or anybody who might be engaging in problematic gambling,” Silver said.

BRIEFLY

PISTONS:The Detroit Pistons and Isaiah Stewart have agreed on a $64 million, four-year contract extension, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced. ESPN was first to report the post player’s deal with the Pistons.