[brid autoplay=”true” video=”818649″ player=”23231″ title=”Is%20the%20Chauncey%20Billups%20hire%20too%20little%20too%20late%20for%20the%20Trail%20Blazers%20to%20keep%20Damian%20Lillard” duration=”97″ description=”Carolyn Manno asks Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix about the potential influence new Portland Trail Blazers HC Chauncey Billups will have on Damian Lillard. ” uploaddate=”2021-07-02″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/thumb/818649_t_1625251586.png” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/sd/818649.mp4″]
While it’s not yet known whether Damian Lillard will request a trade, the Golden State Warriors have already had internal discussions about acquiring the Portland Trail Blazers star.
As ridiculous as it might seem, Golden State acquiring Dame isn’t necessarily out of the equation. It has a ton of assets to offer up to Portland in a hypothetical deal. Below, we look at whether the Warriors can offer up the best package for Damian Lillard in a trade with the Blazers.
Is Wiggins a No. 1 player on a contending team? No. He might not even be a secondary option as we saw last season with Golden State missing out on the playoffs. But when we ignore the fact that the 26-year-old forward was the top pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, we can evaluate him in a vacuum. Once that happens, it becomes clear that Wiggins is a darn good player.
To put this into perspective, Wiggins’ win shares ranked ahead of Blazers teammates Carmelo Anthony, Jusuf Nurkic and Norman Powell a season ago. The interesting dynamic here is that he’s not the centerpiece in a hypothetical Lillard blockbuster trade. Rather, that’s last year’s No. 2 pick James Wiseman. Despite injury and consistency issues, the center is still seen as a high-upside player and could be a catalyst for a rebuild in Portland.
To make matters even better for the Blazers, they are able to pick up stud young guard Jordan Poole in lieu of future pick swaps. Poole, 22, showed out big time during the ladder part of his sophomore season in Golden State — averaging 14.7 points on 35% shooting from distance in his final 36 games. Add in four first-round picks, including the seventh and 14th selections later this month, and Portland might have to bite if the Warriors offered this up.
This scenario includes Golden State replacing Poole with another youngster in Paschall and two future pick swaps. It also nets Portland one less future first-round pick with Robert Covington likely being part of a separate deal for more assets.
Why would this work for Portland? It’s simple. If the team were forced to trade Dame, it would then have to start anew with a rebuild. Acquiring two lottery picks this year as well as three potential young cornerstone players would set the team up well to be competitive out of the gate. Add in a future unprotected first-round pick, and this might be the best scenario for Portland.
There’s a total of four teams that were listed a preferred landing spots for Lillard in a previous report. That includes the Heat, Lakers, Knicks and aforementioned Warriors. What can each team offer Portland in comparison to Golden State?
If we’re looking at full-market value in a hypothetical Lillard blockbuster this summer, it seems to be between the Warriors and Knicks. Each team has the goods to offer up a heck of a bounty to Portland.
At issue here for Golden State is Portland’s brass. Would embattled general manager Neil Olshey even consider trading Damian Lillard to a Western Conference rival that has been a thorn in his side? Heck, we’re not even sure Dame would want to join a super-team. He’s spoken out against that in the past.
But if all things were created equal, it’s not a stretch to say that the Golden State Warriors could offer up the best package to acquire Lillard should he request a trade. In no way does that mean it’s even remotely possible. A lot would have to happen in order for this to come to fruition.