In this interview on The Draymond Green Show, Damian Lillard reflects on the recent trade that sent CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans. Lillard explains that the move had been anticipated for years, describing how he and McCollum discussed the possibility long before it happened and how Lillard wanted McCollum to be aware of the trade rather than surprised. He shares the emotional difficulty of seeing a longtime teammate leave, noting that he still watches Pelicans games and feels the end of an era. Lillard then reminisces about the deep bond he shared with McCollum—spending eight years sitting side‑by‑side on flights, watching film, listening to music, and supporting each other through early team struggles. He highlights a pivotal moment when the duo clinched a playoff series in 2016, recalling the hug that cemented their belief in the team’s potential. Shifting to the present, Lillard discusses Portland’s current roster, noting the addition of players like E.T. Curry, Mo Bamba, Chief Kasper, Enes Kanter, Nurk Demirel, Josh Hart, and Joe Ingles, and the roughly $60 million in cap space the team now holds. He expresses confidence that the assembled talent, combined with execution, can finally put the Blazers in a position to contend for a championship, despite the limited time left in his and the organization’s prime years.
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What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. And speaking of the moves that y'all made in trading away Norman Powell and Robert Covington, and then of course, obviously trading CJ away. And I know I've spoke to you about this before, just you and CJ. And I remember you telling me like, "No, me and CJ talk all the time. Like we know at some point this is gonna happen. It's kind of just a matter of—" when it does happen, obviously it's happened now. How did you feel about the move? How you feel about what it was for CJ and him going to New Orleans and the type of situation it is for him, but then also what y'all got back and where that leaves y'all going forward?
I mean, conversation going back, you know, 3, 4 years where it's like, I remember when we lost to New Orleans in the playoffs, it was like, man, we don't know what's gonna happen at this point. We just got swept as a 3 seed. We don't know what's gonna happen, but we knew it was a possibility. And, you know, I think at that point we started to line our contracts up to where we was basically on the same time, you know, where like, all right, if something gonna happen, you know what I mean? Like we was already aware of what the possibilities could be. And I think that's what being solid and, you know, really being partners is about, whereas like— Yeah. We know that this a possibility. Like, I'm never gonna be like, I'm never gonna hang him out there and I'm never gonna know something and not go to him like, "Look, bro, I think something might go down," or whatever. You know, it was like 2 days before it happened, we talked on the phone for an hour, you know, like just talking about it. So you never would, like, if it was gonna be something where I was gonna be moved there, CJ knew about it. I would never want him to be like, I would never want him to tell them like, "No, don't do this." I would wanna be there on the strength of them wanting me to be there as opposed to me being there on the strength of somebody making them make me be there. So, and I know he feel the same way. So, you get to a point where maybe something run its course. You gotta, reroute yourself and try to figure out what's the best thing, what's the best angle to take at this point. And that's where that reached. And, you know, he went into a great basketball situation, you know, with—
Yeah.
B.I. and Zion and Valanciunas. And also people don't realize how good CJ really is. I think that's another thing is like, they don't realize that how nice he really is. So, That shit was tough to deal with, bro. I ain't gonna lie. Like, I was, you know, when you know something could be coming and you know that it's a possibility, but when it happened, it's different. Like, damn.
Absolutely.
And I kind of been stuck in that space the whole time. Like, I've been watching every game in New Orleans. Like, damn, like, he really ain't coming back. You know, it was over. So that's kind of where I've been at. I still kind of haven't even really moved past it 'cause I ain't had to play. So like when I ain't had to get on the court and he ain't on the team no more, it's like, it probably take a little bit longer to be like, man, this shit really over, you know? So, you know, the end of an era, bro.
Absolutely. And I think obviously y'all had a great run. We met y'all in the Western Conference Finals and in other playoff series as well. But in looking back on these years, I think it's, 9 years y'all played together, or 8 years. I mean, 9 years as teammates, 8 years because of the injuries. But what was your favorite moment in playing with CJ that you can go back to and be like, that was the moment that we'll hold on to forever? Or is it just the relationship overall?
I'll say the relationship overall, 'cause it was a lot of moments where I was just like, you know, that I think about it, I'm like, damn. But I think the moment that I think back to is, and just because, like, even when CJ wasn't playing all the way up until last season, when COVID hit, me and CJ sat next to each other on the plane for the first 8 years we played together. We was, like, sitting right next to each other on the plane. So we used to watch film together. We used to listen to music right there. We used to be watching TV shows, like, everything. Like, we used to sit right there next to each other. And—
Yeah.
When we made the first move, when, you know, LA left and Batum and Wes and Rolo and all them, when that team first broke up, CJ came in and he was like, "Bro, I got you. Like, we ain't about to just be trash." You know what I mean? Like, "We probably ain't, it's gonna take time, but like, I got you." And I remember we like squeaked our way into the playoffs that year and we ended up being like a 5 seed or something like that. A 5 seed in 2016, that was my 4th year. And we played the Clippers in the first round. And in game, I think game 4, CP and Blake got hurt. And then we tied the series up 2-2. And then we went to LA game 5, won that one, was up 3-2. And then we closed them out in game 6 at home. And I just remember like walking off the court and I turned around and he was behind me and he just hugged me. And I was like, bro, we just won. Yeah. "We just won a playoff series, bruh, the first year. Like, we gonna be all right." And I just remember, like, I just remember we embraced each other and I was like, "Bro, we finna, like, we about to get some shit done." You know what I mean? Like, I'll never forget that. 'Cause I was like, "All right, you know, it's real. We really, as long as we can put it together, like, we got a chance." So, you know.
That's it. And so in making those moves, I think y'all will have somewhere around $60 million or something like that in cap space. Like you're turning 32 as I am turning 32 next month as well. The one thing you don't have on your side is time. And so you don't have like, oh man, I can watch this play out for 4 years or 5 and grow with this. Like y'all have to go for it now. Do you feel confident in the team's plans and what they want to do moving forward? That's going to help you get what I ultimately know you wanna get to, which is winning the championship in Portland.
Right. No, I think what we've done, bruh, is put ourselves in a position we have not been in. I don't think the year when we signed ET, we signed ET, we signed Mo, we signed Chief. You know, we just signed a bunch of Myers, we signed a bunch of people. And we haven't been in this position, you know, with talent on the roster already since I've been here. You know, you look at what Ennis doing and then you look at what Nas was doing before he got hurt. And then you add Nurk, like Josh Hart, Joe Ingles. Like we got some pieces to the puzzle now that we just gotta use what we have available to add to that. Mm-hmm. And it's just a matter of us being able to execute that, bro. We in play to get something done. And I trust the fact that we gonna be able to execute it, you know? And we just gotta, you know, we just gotta see where that land. That's where we at now. We just gotta see where we land at the end of it, bro.
