Portland Trail Blazers Receive: G Evan Fournier, G Derrick Rose, F Obi Toppin, F Cam Reddish, 2023 First-Round Pick (NYK), 2026 First-Round Pick (NYK)
New York Knicks Receive: G Damian Lillard
Here, the Portland Trail Blazers opt for two young players and two first-round pick over a better young player with one less pick. In other words, they’re leaning more heavily into a full-on rebuild.
That’s not characteristic of this organization. Maybe it ought to be. While the Blazers are typically apprehensive about long-term projects, moving on from Lillard may necessitate one.
Meanwhile, the Knicks ought to prefer this deal. They’ll be heading into 2022-23 with a trio of Lillard, Randle, and Barrett following it. With even incremental upgrades to their supporting cast, that’s a team that stands to make some noise in the Eastern Conference.
Alternatively, if the Blazers are leaning this hard into a rebuild, why not lean harder? They could look at, for example, how many first-round selections the Rockets got for James Harden (7 including swaps) and asks themselves why they should be satisfied with two?
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If that’s their approach to negotiations, the Knicks may have one more offer to make.
