Blazers' Nurkic sounds off over Damian Lillard trade report

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Damian Lillard reportedly plans to request a trade from the Trail Blazers, which isn't too surprising if you've been following Portland's rocky offseason.

But Lillard's longtime teammate insists the star point guard isn't going anywhere.

Forsberg: Stop daydreaming about Lillard, Celtics fans

Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkic took aim at True Hoop's Henry Abbott Friday on Twitter after Abbott reported that Lillard is planning a trade request.

Abbott didn't back down after Nurkic's tweet -- and neither did Nurkic.

In fact, the Bosnia native also called "cap" (aka "not true") on a report that Lillard is interested in joining the New York Knicks.

Nurkic even gave Lillard a birthday shout-out Thursday on Twitter, so he's clearly pulling out all the stops to try to keep the All-Star in Portland.

Nurkic's valiant efforts might be in vain, though. If Lillard's true goal is to a win a championship, he'd be better off requesting a trade from the Blazers, who have advanced past the first round of the playoffs just once in the past five years.

The Celtics have been floated as a landing spot for the 31-year-old star, but a trade for Lillard almost certainly would require Boston to part with Jaylen Brown, who's one of the NBA's best young two-way players and is on a much more favorable contract.

The Knicks are the current betting favorite to trade for Lillard, so if he winds up in New York, Nurkic should know we kept receipts.

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