The biggest news in the NBA recently was Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard doing a 180-degree turn from recent years and requesting a trade from the team. For a long time Lillard was committed to sticking things out in Portland and helping turn them into a contender, but this offseason, he seems to have reached his wits end.
Making matters even more complicated for the Trail Blazers is that Lillard has made it very clear he wants to go to the Miami Heat. His representation has gone as far as to say that if their client is traded elsewhere, he isn’t even going to show up.
That will almost certainly scare most teams away from making an offer for Lillard, but it would be hard to imagine him actually no-showing on a new team. Could he be disgruntled for a little while? Sure. But, depending on where he landed, he could be contending for a title right away, which is the ultimate goal.
One team who could look to make a splash and land Lillard, in the opinion of Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report, is the Boston Celtics. They have been ousted by the Heat from the postseason twice in the last four years and should be motivated to make sure another star doesn’t end up in South Beach.
NBA TRADES, NEWS & RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers & Boston Celtics Updates
Buckley suggested two different trade packages that the Celtics could try and entice Portland with. The first would be a deal that gives Boston arguably the best Big 3 in the NBA, adding Lillard to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
While that trio is certainly good enough to win a title, it would leave the Celtics dangerously short-handed. Essentially every tradeable asset Boston owns would be on the move as the package Buckley suggested is Kristaps Porzingis, Robert Williams III, Malcolm Brogdon, Payton Pritchard, Jordan Walsh and three first-round picks in exchange for Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic.
NBA TRADES, NEWS & RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers & Boston Celtics Updates
That would certainly top any offer the Heat can make but it would be virtually impossible to build a contending roster around their new Big 3. If the Celtics were looking to retain most of their role players, they could build a package around Brown.
Buckley suggested the Celtics offer Brown, Al Horford and Pritchard in exchange for Lillard. That trade would help Portland remain competitive, and a few more pieces would need to be included to make the money work. If they prefer a full reset, a third team could get involved that offers the Trail Blazers a boatload of draft assets for Horford and Brown.
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