Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard underwent surgery in mid-January to address the lingering abdominal injury that he has been dealing with for a few years. Despite having at least a month until he could return to the court, he continues to see his name circulating in NBA talks.
With the trade deadline quickly approaching, teams are gearing up to make deals for the stretch run of the season. With Lillard sidelined, the Trail Blazers likely aren’t going to be buyers, but the emergence of Anfernee Simons in relief of Lillard could change those plans.
If anything, Portland will likely look to recoup some assets for the expiring deals they have in Robert Covington and Jusuf Nurkic. If they accept the harsh reality of being sellers, Larry Nance Jr. could also be on the move.
The biggest thing looming over the organization, however, is the future of Lillard. Will he work out an extension with the franchise this offseason, or will the new regime taking over for Niel Olshey look to rebuild and shake things up.
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According to Eric Pinkus of Bleacher Report, people around the league expect an extension to get done. If not, the team to keep an eye on is not the Philadelphia 76ers, but instead the New York Knicks.
Most teams expect the Trail Blazers to extend Lillard for another couple of seasons at roughly $100 million, but if that goes south, the New York Knicks may be his next destination over the Sixers.
The point guard position has been a thorn in the side of the Knicks for years. They haven’t had the same starting point guard in consecutive years since Chris Duhon during the Mike D’Antoni years in the late 2000s into the early 2010s.
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For them to take that next step after showing promise last season, the point guard position needs to be addressed. That need has become even more prominent with Julius Randle regressing throughout the 2021-22 season.
Acquiring Lillard, however, would not be cheap. Portland would be staring at a rebuild and would want as many pieces to make that transition as easy as possible. New York has some draft capital and young players to build the core of a trade package around, but they would likely be sapped of almost all of their assets in a trade for Lillard.
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Adding Damian Lillard to the mix would assuredly make the Knicks a playoff contender. However, if they were forced to part ways with RJ Barrett and all of their draft capital, moving up into the tier of true contenders would likely prove difficult.
