The Portland Trail Blazers came into the NBA offseason with a lot of questions to answer. The team made a change at the head coaching position, parting ways with Terry Stotts after nine seasons with the team.
Chauncey Billups was tabbed as his replacement, which caused a stir among some people. Damian Lillard was caught up in some of it, and trade rumors began popping up around him. While he has denied those rumors, it is easy to see why Lillard might be frustrated with the organization.
While he loves being a Trail Blazers and being in Portland, the front office has failed to consistently put a competitive team around him. They have eight consecutive playoff appearances but have lost in the first round in five of those years. That is part of the reason Sotts was let go.
Lillard hoped the front office would be aggressive, and they didn’t respond as you would think. It was more of the status quo, as the roster remains relatively the same heading into 2021 training camp.
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Re-signing Norman Powell may make him happy, but Cody Zeller, Ben McLemore, and Tony Snell don’t move the needle. Larry Nance Jr. is a solid pickup but likely won’t push the Trail Blazers to be contenders.
At this point, it wouldn’t shock anyone if Lillard did request a trade. If that occurred, teams around the league would line up for him. One dark horse in the Lillard sweepstakes would be the Indiana Pacers.
What could a deal between the Pacers and Trail Blazers centered around Lillard look like? Let’s take a look.
