Damian Lillard has finally requested a trade. This came after the Portland Trailblazers drafted Scoot Henderson with the third pick in the 2023 NBA Draft instead of trading it for a star player and after they gave $160 million to Jerami Grant, who Lillard said he wants to play with. Regardless of all that, Dame still requested a trade. Here are some possible deals:
Miami Heat
Lillard has said he wants to go to the Miami Heat but Portland can trade him wherever. Dame was loyal to Portland for 99.9% of the time he was there but kind of stabbed them in the back at the last minute as they signed a player Dame said he wanted to play with for more money than he is worth and for five years in Jerami Grant. If they trade Dame to Miami the Heat could offer the $27M expiring contract of Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro with picks.
Orlando Magic
Orlando is a dark horse here to get Dame but they could go all in and offer young, promising players for Dame and arguably the best package. Young players Franz Wagner and Bol Bol with $30M of expiring deals from Markelle Fultz and Gary Harris plus picks seems pretty good. Pairing Dame with Paolo Banchero could be a playoff team next year in a weak Eastern Conference.
Brooklyn Nets
The Nets are the other team rumored to be the most interested in Dame. It is harder to find a deal that Brooklyn could offer without including Mikal Bridge or Cam Johnson but a five for two deal could get it done. Brookyln could offer a promising young guard in Cam Thomas and promising center in Nic Claxton plus $37M in expiring deals plus picks for Dame and either Jabari Walker or Jeenathan? Williams.
Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Damian_Lillard_against_the_Cleveland_Cavaliers.jpg
