Imagining Damian Lillard In 5 Realistic Landing Spots
Let's go ahead and do what Damian Lillard so far will not: imagine his fit on more than one NBA team.
Ever since requesting a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers, the 33-year-old has remained "unwavering" in his insistence that he be sent to the Miami Heat. That may very well be his end destination—especially if his agent, Aaron Goodwin, successfully convinces every other potential suitor Lillard will not suit up for them.
Still, talks between the Heat and Blazers reportedly have "no real traction" weeks later. And with Lillard under contract for another four years (2026-27 player option), one of the 28 other squads not on his list could swoop in, roll the dice, acquire him and hope it all works out.
Random star destinations are not exactly standard fare. They're not unheard of, either. The Oklahoma City Thunder went off-book and dealt for Paul George in 2017. The Toronto Raptors did the same and snagged Kawhi Leonard in 2018—and then won a title.
Lillard's case is equal parts more complex and intriguing. He theoretically has less leverage than George or Leonard, because he's not on the verge of reaching free agency. But the $216 million he's owed over the next four years, at his age, are either a deterrent, an asset to risk-averse organizations or some combination of both.
This is all to say, we absolutely need to imagine what Lillard will look like on the Heat. And yet, it also behooves us to envision how he'll fit in on a smattering of other teams.
I have plucked five squads from three buckets just for the occasion: where Dame wants to play (Miami); two prospective suitors who can talk themselves past his narrow wish list; and two tantalizing-as-hell-long-shots that, if I had my druthers, would be aggressively party-crashing these sweepstakes. To the Vision Board!
Miami Heat: An Elite Big 3
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Miami stands alone under the "Where Dame Wants to Play Umbrella," and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. The Heat are among the easier teams to envision him on, in large part because we know almost exactly what a prospective package will consist of, regardless of how many facilitating parties it must involve: Tyler Herro, one of Kyle Lowry or Duncan Robinson, perhaps a younger player or two and a bunch of picks.
Partnering Dame with Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler creates one of the league's two most lethal trios. (The other is in Phoenix.) He can be a featured attraction in their dribble (and no-dribble) handoff situations or take up the accessory mantle, flying around off pin-downs and backdoor cuts.
Lillard's outside shot-making, in general, would be a huge add. Neither of Miami's incumbent stars launches triples at a high volume, let alone fire them off the dribble. Luka Dončić was the only player in the league last year who attempted more pull-up threes than Dame, who downed his at a 37.2 percent clip. His brand of detonating would significantly beef up a half-court offense that ranked in the bottom eight during the regular season.
Certain teams might struggle to insulate Lillard on defense. The Heat aren't one of them. Adebayo and Butler are all-world stoppers, Josh Richardson still hustles on that end, and keeping one or both of Lowry and Caleb Martin would go a long way toward preserving Miami's top-shelf stinginess.
Brooklyn Nets: How Mikal Bridges and Lillard Would Complement One Another
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Though the Brooklyn Nets are not currently on Damian Lillard's singular-team wish list, they are a no-brainer inclusion for the "Can Talk Themselves Past That Hurdle" bucket. Not only do they need advantage creation to optimize what remains a win-now window, but Lillard has expressed a fondness for Mikal Bridges.
Cobbling together a package could get a little complicated. Ben Simmons' salary simplifies matters, but it may take extra compensation for Portland to eat the two years left on his deal. For our purposes, we can assume the Nets will yank Bridges and Nic Claxton off the table and assemble their best offer around an avalanche of first-round picks.
Lillard and Bridges are a natural fit on offense. Bridges shined in a No. 1 capacity after coming over from Phoenix, but the limitations on his half-court table-setting make him an ideal No. 2. Lillard can immediately usurp Bridges in the from-scratch pecking order without actually monopolizing the offense.
The balance of Brooklyn's roster should be set up to maximize spacing. Four-out lineups will be the standard—unless Simmons stays. Claxton will have plenty of room to cut and roll and finish off passes from Lillard and Bridges, and the star duo will enjoy kick-out options galore with Cam Johnson and at least one, if not both, of Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O'Neale.
Retaining enough key personnel to sustain the defense will be critical. Ideally, the Nets would exit Lillard talks with Bridges, Claxton, Finney-Smith and O'Neale all on the roster. Throw in Dame, and that's a dynamite two-way closing unit. And it remains just as promising, at both ends, if you sub in Johnson for O'Neale. Simmons could technically help here if he's healthy, but the fit between he and Claxton on offense is pretty clumpy.
Philadelphia 76ers: Processing Dame and the Process
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Philadelphia 76ers team president Daryl Morey sounds like someone who plans on having a co-star alongside Joel Embiid next season. Will that co-star be an unhappy James Harden? Or will it be a player Philly acquires as part of his departure—someone like, say, Damian Lillard?
Straight-up deals between the Blazers and bold-enough-not-to-care-that-Dame-wants-to-play-for-the-Heat Sixers don't exist. Philly essentially needs to rope in a third team or extract enough value from a Harden trade to turn around and pry Lillard out of Portland.
Either end result doesn't offer much certainty. Would Tyrese Maxey still be on the Sixers? Does Lillard's narrow-market stance drive the Blazers to consider packages built around Maxey, Tobias Harris and a single first-round pick, theoretically paving the way for Harden or the return gleaned from him to remain on the roster?
My head hurts.
Without the hypothetical deed getting officially done, this is all about the Lillard-Joel Embiid dynamic. And fortunately, it's divine.
Lillard and Embiid can trade off operating in isolation, but Dame isn't nearly as ball dominant as Harden. Newly minted Sixers head coach Nick Nurse will have more freedom to speed up the half-court offense in an attempt to keep defenses on tilt with roomy spacing and quicker decision-making. A Lillard-Embiid pick-and-roll should still be a staple, but it's not the only vehicle through which they can sync up.
Surviving on defense shouldn't be a huge issue. Embiid can cover up for everything on the back end, and the Sixers, presumably, won't fork over De'Anthony Melton or P.J. Tucker as part of a Lillard and/or Harden trade.
Prospective minutes with Dame and Maxey in the backcourt could get iffy, but it's not any more challenging than doing the same with Harden. Maxey has another few gears to hit on-ball anyway. And if he's somehow spared from Lillard's arrival, this is a (non-)problem the Sixers would welcome.
New Orleans Pelicans: We've Seen This Movie Before
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Welcome to the "Tantalizing as Hell Long Shots" portion of the program. We begin with the uber-dreamy Damian Lillard-Brandon-Ingram-Zion Williamson formation.
The New Orleans Pelicans have the goods to enter these sweepstakes without surrendering Zion, Ingram or Herb Jones (can't be traded until Jan. 14). By uncorking a combination of Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and their own first-round picks, they should probably be able to keep one of Dyson Daniels or Trey Murphy III, as well.
Slotting Lillard, Zion and Ingram into the same offense is hellfire at every level. Lillard provides an element of perimeter off-ball gravity and self-created three-point marksmanship the roster doesn't currently have. It is the perfect complement to Zion's unstoppable rim pressure and Ingram's in-between game.
Keeping Murphy over Daniels is the play. The former's outside touch is both dependable and extends to ultra-ultra-ultra-long range. The Pelicans would have easier access to four-out lineups around Zion more than they do with CJ McCollum, who we're assuming gets rerouted to a third team as part of any hypothetical Lillard deal.
Cobbling together enough defense around a Zion-Lillard-Ingram trio isn't exactly effortless. Having Larry Nance Jr. as the switch big helps, and the Pelicans can get by closing games with Zion in the middle when both Jones and Murphy are on the floor.
Parlaying Jonas Valanciunas' expiring salary into a more mobile rim protector takes on extra importance if and when Daniels gets sent out. But New Orleans would still retain most of its switchability, rebounding and transition hustle—tenets that helped buoy last season's top-six defense.
Oklahoma City Thunder: SGA + Lillard Anyone?
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Speaking of tantalizing-as-hell long shots, we have Oklahoma City! I did a little number on this scenario for the Hardwood Knocks podcast, and, well, let's just say Thunder fans weren't on board with this scale of timeline acceleration.
Kudos to team president Sam Presti for convincing the people who matter most to buy into the long-term vision. But the Thunder are good enough now to prioritize both the immediate and bigger pictures. They also just so happen to have the assets and salary-matching tools to construct a competitive package while keeping Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Lu Dort.
That's the benefit of housing a kabillion future first-round picks. Oklahoma City could probably even escape talks without losing Josh Giddey—though, the incumbent surplus of guards does suggest he and/or Cason Wallace must be shipped out.
Mouths everywhere should be foaming at the formation of an SGA-Lillard duo. SGA craved more breathing room last season on his change-of-speed-and-angles drives, even if he didn't always show it. The extra spacing he'll get from both Lillard and Holmgren dotting the arc is horrific news for 29 other teams tasked with defending the finished product.
It's not just SGA who benefits, either. The abruptness of Jalen Williams and oft-discombobulated Dort drives would receive a nice bump amid more runway. Holmgren himself will have more room to roll and, equally paramount, test his floor game.
Meanwhile, I'm not sure there's a team more equipped to protect Lillard on the other end. Oklahoma City has enough depth to surround him with three plus defenders at all times. In fact, I'd wager oodles of money that a lineup featuring SGA, Lillard, Dort, J-Dub and Holmgren would rank among the top two-way units in the entire league—and, frankly, punch the Thunder's ticket to instant title contention.
Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass. Salary information via Spotrac.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.
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