Is there more competition in the East vying for Lillard?Let’s take a look below.
After two months without discussions, the Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers reportedly began discussing Damian Lillard in recent days.
However, according to NBA insider Marc Spears, there is a mystery Eastern Conference team in the race.
“I’m hearing rumors about another team in the Eastern Conference that I haven’t ruled out yet,” Spears said Monday.
“If a team could trade for Lillard without his blessing it would be very risky, not only for that team (trading Lillard) but also for the Hall of Famer’s relationship in future with the Blazers.
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Training camp begins on October 3 and trade rumors appear to be heating up, but assuming this report is true (Spears is a reliable insider), which East team has Can join the conversation about Lillard?
Consider the possible
The Celtics cannot trade Jaylen Brown because he signed a super max extension.
Therefore, it cannot be exchanged within exactly one calendar year.
They also won’t trade Jayson Tatum, who tried to recruit Lillard to Boston.
But Lillard doesn’t want to go to Boston anyway.
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Jrue Holiday has two years, $76.
3 million left on his contract (last year player option) and Khris Middleton has three years, $93 million left (last year player option), so Milwaukee there are contracts lining up a trade for Lillard, even though they currently don’t have a tradeable first-round pick until 2028.
This may sound like a broken record, but what would be the benefit of acquiring Holiday or Middleton – as well as any other player – from the Blazers’ perspective, given the surplus position and Their pedigree?
Both are good veterans, but Holiday or Middleton would put this clearly tanking team at the 11th or 12th seed, which is exactly the opposite direction Portland should be going.
A third or fourth team would have to be involved, and while Milwaukee is the clear favorite in the East, they still have one of the oldest teams in the NBA.
The Heat aren’t much younger, but have had a better recent history of injecting youth into their lineup, extending playing time.
It’s more realistic than Boston, but it doesn’t seem likely.
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The Sixers need to address the James Harden problem.
Plus, Tyrese Maxey and Tyler Herro, a player Portland doesn’t want, are considered equal assets.
Why would either side do this?
Again, redundancy.
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Cleveland’s three most sought-after assets are Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland.
Trading Garland, a 23-year-old emerging star, shouldn’t be on the table for Lillard; Mitchell is a slightly different case study, but in theory, a hypothetical Lillard-Garland backfield isn’t necessarily the best solution, even if Cleveland remains a top contender.
Would Cleveland trade Mobley or Jarrett Allen along with additional assets and try to pull off a Garland-Lillard-Mitchell backcourt?
Probably not, especially if they negotiate first.
There’s no way this will happen.
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Even if Stephen A.
Smith tries (naturally, I guess?
) to wish Lillard had been born, the Knicks are unlikely to trade Julius Randle – who is coming off ankle surgery – or R.J.
Barrett, who has always had trade value, became less valuable because Lillard did not have more suitors.
While it’s an interesting idea, Lillard-Brunson would also be a shady candidate in the backcourt, especially on defense.
Flipping Immanuel Quickley would provide the same level of backup that Herro would offer Maxey in a trade package.
New York has the draft capital and Lillard would bring a lot of star power to the Big Apple, but that’s not very
While the Nets were the only team Lillard initially had on his trade request list, the Nets did not have the infrastructure outside of Mikal Bridges – a team they did not trade – to build a worthy contender.
Forge around Lillard.
Give him another season or two and we’ll talk, but Lillard, 33, doesn’t have time for that.
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It can be said that Masai Ujiri is a general manager who always wants to win in every deal.
That’s essentially a general manager’s job, but that pretty much rules out why the Raptors didn’t return their top asset at the trade deadline and ended up getting nothing for Fred VanVleet , who left Houston in free agency.
And even if he tries to expose the Raptors, Pascal Siakam and/or O.G.
Anunoby has the same problem as the aforementioned options:
They will take Portland in the opposite direction from where they should be.
Why is Portland aiming for this?
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The two franchises in purgatory don’t make much sense.
Lillard will immediately become each team’s best player, but they still won’t be serious contenders without further moves.
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The teams I intentionally left out are the Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets, and Detroit Pistons.
While I think the Pacers will be significantly improved with the additions of Bruce Brown in free agency and Jarace Walker in the draft, they — and the rest of these four teams grouped in this category — are the third, fourth or maybe fifth team to facilitate them.
trade Lillard, not the team that acquired him.
While Spears cited that there is another team out of the Heat Eastern Conference and that Portland is conducting trade discussions, the remaining 27 teams should at least check in and see what a potential package looks like – whether they are a suitor, a marginal competitor, a