Trade Packages for Portland Trail Blazers Star Guard Damian Lillard
Heading into the 2023 NBA draft, there was all kinds of chatter about a potential Damian Lillard trade in the event the Portland Trail Blazers used their No. 3 pick on an incoming rookie instead of trading it for a win-now veteran.
No such deal materialized, but less than 24 hours into free agency, the trade request is in.
With the Trail Blazers finally taking calls on Dame, who should be dialing in to Portland's front office?
Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes reports Miami and Brooklyn are the guard's preferred destinations. We've got those two teams covered here, plus two more that could get in on the action.
Miami Heat
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The Deal: Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkić for Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. (tradable 30 days after signing rookie deal), a 2026 first-round pick swap, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 first-round pick swap and a 2029 first-round pick swap
The Miami Heat are among Lillard's preferred destinations for obvious reasons.
Pat Riley and the rest of that front office loves star-hunting, and a trio of Lillard, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo would instantly be one of the NBA's best.
The Heat just made the Finals with the latter two, and plugging Lillard's deep three-point shooting and overall offensive ability into Lowry's spot would've made them a real threat to win the title.
Having Jusuf Nurkić in the deal too would give Miami the backup big it desperately needed against the Denver Nuggets.
The problem, of course, is that the Heat have already spent a lot of draft capital in previous moves. The only first-rounder they can trade outright without violating the Stepien Rule (which precludes teams from trading their way out of two first rounds in a row) is the one they own in 2027.
Would Portland be interested in that, the financial flexibility that would come with Kyle Lowry's expiring contract, two young promising prospects in Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. and three pick swaps?
Other teams with more control over their future drafts may be able to beat that offer, but if the Blazers opt for a full restart, they could do a lot worse.
Brooklyn Nets
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The Deal: Damian Lillard for Ben Simmons, Cam Thomas, Day'Ron Sharpe, a 2027 first-round pick from Philadelphia, a 2028 first-round pick from Phoenix and a 2029 first-round pick from Dallas
In the aggregate, the Brooklyn Nets received a massive haul of assets from various teams over the last few years. The deal that sent Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns was particularly lucrative for Brooklyn.
Now, if the Nets want to cash in a bunch of those chips, they might be able to top offers from a handful of other teams around the league.
Taking on Ben Simmons' contract is far from ideal, but it's necessary for salary-matching purposes under the collective bargaining agreement, and it expires in 2025 (Lillard's isn't done till 2027, assuming he picks up a $63.2 million player option).
This trade package is more about fliers on young talents Cam Thomas (who famously had four performances of at least 43 points this season) and Day'Ron Sharpe and three unprotected first-rounders from all over the NBA.
For a team embarking on a reboot, that'd be a great start.
The Nets' side of the deal, meanwhile, doesn't require a ton of explanation. Their wing-heavy rotation featuring Mikal Bridges, Royce O'Neale, Dorian Finney-Smith and Cameron Johnson (a restricted free agent, so Brooklyn can match any offer sheet he signs) would be able to cover for Lillard's defensive flaws in a way Portland couldn't.
And the offensive gravity Lillard generates would give all those wings more open looks from three.
Putting Lillard in Simmons' spot (which essentially gave Brooklyn nothing in 2022-23) would instantly put this team in contention for home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference first round.
New York Knicks
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The Deal: Damian Lillard for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Evan Fournier, a 2024 first-round pick from Detroit, a 2025 first-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick
Ever since the New York Knicks failed to cross the finish line on a Donovan Mitchell trade last summer, it's felt like they could use most (or all) of what it was planning to send to Utah in a deal for another star.
And while the fit between Lillard and Jalen Brunson would be far from perfect (that backcourt would probably be too small to lead an average defense), the offensive firepower would be terrifying.
The presumed starting five would be able to do plenty of damage from the outside with Brunson, Lillard and Quentin Grimes, while keeping Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson would allow the Knicks to preserve their identity as a team that can dominate the offensive glass.
For Portland, this deal gets it the flexibility afforded by Evan Fournier's expiring contract, two promising under-25 talents in RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley and multiple first-rounders.
Given the protections on the Detroit pick, Portland might even be able to squeeze one more first out of the Knicks.
Utah Jazz
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The Deal: Damian Lillard for Collin Sexton, Kelly Olynyk, a 2025 first-round pick from Minnesota, a 2027 first-round pick from Minnesota and a 2029 first-round pick from Cleveland
Each of the teams detailed so far has been listed specifically by oddsmakers trying to peg Lillard's next spot, so it's time for at least one wild card.
Small-market teams that are already in rebuild mode don't often go all-in for stars, because the big-name players usually have a say in their destination, and there's typically the prospect of an exit around the corner.
But Lillard is under contract through at least 2026, he played his college basketball at Utah's Weber State University and there seems to be an affinity between the player and the people of that state.
That'd likely grow even stronger if he had the opportunity to play there with All-Star starter Lauri Markkanen and a rising rim-protector in Walker Kessler.
Those three and a few solid role players would almost certainly give the Jazz a better shot at contention than Lillard's last two Blazers teams did.
For the Blazers, this gets them Kelly Olynyk's expiring contract, a salary far more manageable than Lillard's in Collin Sexton's deal (which tops out at $19 million in 2025-26) and three potentially high-end first-rounders.
As with the New York slide, Portland could probably talk Utah into another draft asset or two, but let's wait for the bidding war before we go that far.
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