Lillard: Meeting with Blazers' owner was 'opening up the line of communication'

All Damian Lillard wants to do is contend for an NBA championship, so to ensure he and the Portland Trail Blazers organization have the same goals in mind, the star point guard went straight to the top.

Lillard met privately with Paul Allen on Jan. 18 in the owner's office at the Moda Center, with the gist of their conversation being about how the Blazers can vault themselves into title contention.

"Opening up the line of communication," Lillard told NBC Sports Northwest's Jason Quick. "I don't think there is anything wrong with communication."

The 27-year-old admitted that he and Allen speak on occasion, but never to the degree they did during their recent meeting. While he won't divulge specifics about what was said, Lillard doesn't want anyone to think that he was attempting to go behind anyone's back by chatting with the owner.

"I'm not a secretive person," Lillard added. "And I have a good relationship with everyone, so I didn't feel that anyone would think I was going about it that way."

It had been reported by ESPN that Lillard had questioned Allen as to why Will Barton - a strong candidate for this season's Sixth Man of the Year - was shipped off to the Denver Nuggets back in 2015. Lillard insists, though, that he has no issue at all with the trade, and that the only reason Barton's name came up is because he feels he'd be a solid fit on the Blazers.

Portland is currently in the playoff picture with a 25-22 record, good enough for the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Lillard will reportedly be named an All-Star reserve for the third time in his career on the back of his 25.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 6.6 assists through 40 appearances.

The Trail Blazers have gotten as far as the second round on two separate occasions with Lillard in tow. They were bounced in the opening round last season in a clean sweep by the Golden State Warriors.