Getty Image / Maddie Meyer
Recent reports indicate that it’s the Miami Heat or bust for Damian Lillard, which sort of pigeon holes the Portland Trail Blazers.
Despite that, there are still teams across the NBA would love to have Lillard join them.
As it turns out, Jayson Tatum is one of them. In fact, it sounds like he’s putting in the work to possibly persuade Lillard into playing for the Boston Celtics.
According to Mass Live, Marc Spears claims the Celtics’ superstar is reaching out to Damian Lillard despite the ongoing rumors about the Heat.
“I’m hearing Jayson Tatum is knocking on that door now too to figure out a way to get (Lillard) to come to Boston.”
Tatum certainly has some work to do. Especially after Damian Lillard’s agent made it clear the star point guard wants to play for the Heat. Especially after he sent a warning to the other 28 teams in the league to basically not trade for him.
Even though that’s the case, you’d think Lillard would be open to playing Boston. I mean, the guy wants a ring, right? I know he has his heart set on Miami, but it’s not like the Celtics are rebuilding.
In fact, Boston was the two seed in the playoffs this year and came just one win shy of going to the NBA Finals.
Additionally, the idea of Lillard teaming up with Tatum and possibly Jaylen Brown (if he’s not involved in the trade package) is wildly intriguing.
If any franchise in the Eastern Conference can convince Damian Lillard to play with them instead of the Heat, it’s the Celtics. On top of that, Boston may have more to offer than Miami in a trade package.
We’ll see how this plays out, but if Tatum is truly recruiting Lillard, don’t count out the Celtics as a landing spot just yet.