Damian Lillard Trade Rumors: Raptors' Scottie Barnes 'Not Available' for Blazers Star

The Toronto Raptors are reportedly not making Scottie Barnes available as part of Damian Lillard trade talks.

Kurt Helin of NBC Sports reported "Barnes is not available. Portland fans love the idea of landing him but I've been told by multiple people it's not that he was taken off the table, he was never in the same room as the table."

The Raptors are considered the "front-runners" to land Lillard, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape.

The Miami Heat have been Lillard's preferred destination since he requested a trade in July. While Miami has remained in dialogue with the Blazers regarding a trade, they've gotten nowhere close to a deal. Portland is determined to extract the highest possible value out of any Lillard trade, while the Heat are seemingly banking on Lillard's desire to play in Miami driving down the price.

The Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls have also expressed interest in Lillard.

The Raptors are no strangers to acquiring disgruntled superstars who would not otherwise ever consider Toronto as a premier destination. Their 2018 trade for Kawhi Leonard was arguably the boldest move in franchise history and resulted in Toronto's first NBA championship. Leonard would exit for the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency after one season in Toronto, but you won't find a single Raptors fan who regrets the risk.

Lillard's situation is different because he's under team control for at least the next three seasons. At age 33, he's also significantly older than Leonard was (27) when he made his debut for the Raptors.

Lillard does not have the same type of transformative two-way dominance as a prime Kawhi, and that's likely enough for the Raptors to pull Barnes out of any trade discussion.

Barnes plateaued in 2022-23 after a sensational rookie season, but he's 22 years old and has homegrown All-Star potential. Jettisoning him for a 33-year-old defensive minus at the NBA's deepest position—no matter how great Lillard is offensively—is a risk not worth taking for a team not on the precipice of title contention.