Insider: Blazers 'Likely' to Trade 2023 NBA Draft Pick to Build Around Damian Lillard

The Portland Trail Blazers find themselves at a crossroads.

After a disappointing 33-49 record in the 2022-23 campaign, the team has one of two paths going forward: continue to build around Damian Lillard, trading draft capital and young players to bring in more veteran talent; or build around talented young players like Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, this year's first-round pick and the mountain of draft assets they could get for trading Dame.

According to The Athletic's Jason Quick, the first option is the likely path:

"About the only clarity in the Blazers' path forward is this: The Blazers will likely trade their lottery pick unless they land the No. 1 pick (they have a 10.5 percent chance), which would give them the right to draft who many are calling a generational star in French big man Victor Wembanyama. Lillard all but etched in stone the trade-the-pick path Sunday when he said he did not want the Blazers to draft another young player. He said he wants proven veterans who can help now, not players who will need two to three years to develop."

"'I'm just not interested in that. That's not a secret,' the 32-year-old Lillard said of adding another young player. 'I want a chance to go for it. And if the route is to (draft youth), then that's not my route.'"

Landing a potentially once-in-a-lifetime talent like Wembanyama would split the difference pretty perfectly for the Blazers, but it's a long shot that the Blazers get the top pick. The French big man looks ready to be a difference-maker in the NBA immediately, and they couldn't justify trading out of the top spot even if Lillard dissented in favor of landing a veteran.

And it's hard to imagine Lillard would try to stand in the way of the Blazers selecting Wembanyama. It's easy to see the young Frenchman's otherworldly ability and upside.

But more than likely, the Blazers will be sitting with a selection around No. 5, and that's going to create an interesting decision for the team.

Obviously the Blazers would still need a veteran star to ask out of his current situation for a trade to be feasible. But a package built around this year's first-round pick, either Simons or Sharpe—or potentially both, depending on the incoming player—salary filler and future draft assets is wildly enticing.

"I know there are guys that want to do it, I will just say that," Lillard said of potentially landing a star in a trade. "I know there are guys who really move the needle and want to do it. But knowing that and actually making something happen to make that a reality is a completely separate thing."

If nothing else, the trio of Lillard, general manager Joe Cronin and head coach Chauncey Billups seems aligned on adding more veteran star power this offseason.

"We don't want to go through this anymore," Cronin said. "It's time for us to start winning basketball games."

"We've done the tweak thing. A few times," Billups added. "We've got to be more aggressive than that. If we want to actually do right by the best player in the history of the organization, we have to be aggressive."

The Blazers are less likely to be hyper aggressive in free agency, given the $110.2 million in guaranteed salaries for next season already on the books and the possibility of re-signing Jerami Grant.

The veteran power forward was reportedly offered a four-year, $112 million extension over the winter, and he will have until June 30 to agree to a deal or hit free agency. The Blazers would also have the option of offering him more money than other teams if he goes the latter route.

Either way, retaining him would eliminate any salary-cap flexibility the team would have in free agency, barring some cap-cleansing trades. And with Lillard set to make $45.6 million and Simons at $24.1 million, the Blazers don't have many chunky salaries to move off of save for Jusuf Nurkić's $16.8 million.

So a trade, or trades, remains the team's best route for bringing in veteran talent. Where the Blazers land in the lottery will provide some clarity on their next move.