Getty Image / Alika Jenner
This offseason, the Portland Trail Blazers are expected to head in one of two directions.
They could actually trade away Damian Lillard to allow him to finally play for a team that will help him contend for a ring and begin a rebuild in Portland.
After finishing with the Western Conference’s 3rd worst record last season at 33-49 and landing the 3rd pick in this year’s draft, it would be hard to blame them for hitting the reset button.
The other direction they can head in is to trade the draft’s 3rd pick to try and get another star to join Lillard and a roster that got strong contributions from Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons last season.
While there have been plenty of rumors recently about the Blazers dealing that 3rd pick, Damian Lillard sparked some new speculation about himself actually being traded on IG Live today.
After repeatedly being asked about where he’ll be traded this offseason, Lillard joked, “I’m going to the Lakers.”
“I’m going to the Lakers” – Damian Lillard on IG Live 🔥🤣 pic.twitter.com/zWXA1UAbCn
— Jake (@KingJakeVII) May 27, 2023
There have been rumors about LeBron James wanted to pursue a star point guard for the team for next, but that point guard is Kyrie Irving.
Lillard is actually arguably a better fit for the Lakers based on his shooting ability, but it’s difficult to see what exactly the Lakers could offer the Blazers that would get them to give up their long-time star.
The Lakers don’t really have much to work with in trade talks right now as they are extremely low on draft capital.
Instead, if Lillard were to actually be traded, somebody like the Knicks, who need another guard to play alongside Jalen Brunson, badly need another dependable scorer, and have plenty of draft capital to give up.
For now though, the much more likely option seems to be the Portland Trail Blazers making a move to bring in support for Lillard to make one last run at title contention with him as their star player.