Damian Lillard Trade Rumors: Raptors Seen as Front-Runners for Blazers Star Over Heat

The Miami Heat have been widely believed to be the next landing spot for Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard, but another Eastern Conference team reportedly is on the verge of swooping in and acquiring him via trade.

According to Andscape's Marc J. Spears, two high-ranking NBA team executives said the Toronto Raptors "enter this week as the front-runners" to land Lillard.

Spears noted that the Raptors "have had recent conversations with the Blazers about Lillard," but "no pact was close to being imminent as of Monday morning." Still, the two NBA executives "said that they expect Lillard to be traded before media day, which is Oct. 2 for most teams." Training camp officially begins the next day.

While Miami has been known to be Lillard's preferred destination since he requested to be traded on July 1, Portland has yet to receive an offer it deemed worthy of trading the seven-time All-Star. However, Toronto has multiple assets to play with that could be intriguing.

Spears stated that the Blazers "are intrigued about adding a young 6-foot-8 sharpshooter" in Raptors 2023 first-round pick Gradey Dick, who was selected 13th overall.

Toronto also could look to move the likes of Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby or Gary Trent Jr., as all of them were involved in trade rumors at some point last season. Those players would be more attractive than Miami's proposed deal that includes Tyler Herro and two first-round picks, per Spears.

The Raptors aren't the Heat's only competition in the Lillard sweepstakes. Spears reported that the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls all "have shown interest" since his trade request was made public over the summer.

Despite the apparent lack of progress in trade discussions, Spears added that Lillard "is not expected to be a media day or training camp holdout" if a deal isn't agreed upon by then.