The Portland Trail Blazers have boosted negotiations with rival front offices this week in an attempt to obtain the best possible return for seven-time All-Star Damian Lillard, league sources tell Yahoo Sports, as the NBA enters the final days of September leading up to training camp.
Since the initial July talks resulting from Lillard’s trade request did not result in a deal to his preferred destination of Miami or another potential landing spot such as Brooklyn, the start of training camp — and media day Oct. 2 — has loomed as the unofficial deadline for Portland to part ways with Lillard and begin a new era for the Blazers. This is even more true in Philadelphia, where James Harden is still hoping to be traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, according to sources.
The Blazers boast two young lottery choices in Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, as well as Anfernee Simons, a 24-year-old scorer. Bringing back Lillard, 33, with four years and more than $200 million left on his deal, particularly after such a public spectacle, contrasts sharply with Portland flipping the page to a new chapter with the key players already in place. Meanwhile, Philadelphia staffers may still talk themselves into Harden reporting to camp, playing for a championship contender, and therefore playing his way into the trade value the Sixers need to release the All-Star. How plausible is that? Harden has previously said that he would never be a part of an organisation that includes Philadelphia president Daryl Morey.
More pyrotechnics are on the way for the Sixers, whether at their practise facility in Camden, New Jersey, or when the club momentarily relocates to Colorado Springs, Colorado, for training camp. Portland’s position is rapidly improving, as more speculation about possible trade partners other than Lillard’s favoured Heat has spread across the league. According to league executives familiar with the situation, how soon the Blazers can bring discussions to a close will depend on how general manager Joe Cronin and his front staff negotiate the different multiteam frameworks Portland has examined in recent days.
At this point, the two most mentioned potential destinations for Lillard by league figures are Toronto and Chicago. While a number of NBA officials believe Portland would approach Miami before finalising a deal with another bidder, league sources say the Heat have not played a significant role in the Blazers’ recent discussions about Lillard. Furthermore, the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz have emerged as secondary clubs who may play a role in bigger trades to ease Lillard’s exit from the Blazers.
Assembling such a blockbuster requires the sum of many elements. Portland has heavily examined acquiring Phoenix Suns centre Deandre Ayton as part of a multiteam trade for Lillard, league sources revealed to Yahoo Sports. The Suns’ interest had previously been revealed by Arizona Sports and PHNX.
According to insiders, the Blazers have already shown interest in Ayton. This current plan appears to be centred on returning Portland centre Jusuf Nurkic to Phoenix, providing the Suns with a suitable defensive anchor for new head coach Frank Vogel and a pick-and-roll partner for Phoenix’s array of perimeter playmakers who are not expected to receive the volume of touches Ayton is expected to desire on offence.
This is a difficult scenario for the Suns to manage, given Phoenix insisted that Ayton was not available for trade this summer, according to sources, and Vogel publicly backed the former No. 1 overall choice as having “All-Star-level” potential during his introductory news conference. If a deal for Nurkic fails to materialise, the Suns will need Ayton to compete for the championship with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. What they don’t need is a possibly resentful big man who believes the Suns were aggressively attempting to trade him for Nurkic. However, there is a case to be made that dividing Ayton’s deal into two good rotation players would give Vogel with substantial depth and bolster his championship hopes.
Nurkic’s average yearly compensation of $17.5 million is about half of Ayton’s $33.2 million, implying that more accounting would be required to solve this piece of the Lillard jigsaw. Adding possibly Raptors forward OG Anunoby’s $18 million contract would help match the money if Masai Ujiri’s front office ultimately moves on from one of its valued core assets, having toyed with many trade situations before the February deadline and throughout the summer. All of this teasing with little result — apart from bringing back Jakob Poeltl — has many NBA insiders sceptical that Toronto would really pull the trigger.
dealing Anunoby and other compensation for Lillard, on the other hand, is a far different possibility than dealing him for future selections from a club like Memphis or New York. But, what about the Blazers? And, if you’re Portland, might the possibility of trading Anunoby reignite talks with suitors like the Knicks and contribute to the maximum potential return Cronin’s staff seeks? Otherwise, Anunoby could just stay in Portland.
There are other options to consider, making the Raptors one of, if not the, most feasible outside of the Heat — comparable to the Cavaliers’ surprising purchase of Donovan Mitchell last September. However, don’t expect Scottie Barnes to be the star of Portland’s comeback. According to insiders, Toronto has made it obvious to all interested parties that Barnes is the Raptors’ franchise focal point. According to insiders, any deal with Toronto may involve recent first-round pick Gradey Dick, much as then-rookie wing Ochai Agbaji and then-rookie centre Walker Kessler both served as supplementary potential compensation in Utah’s trades for Mitchell and Rudy Gobert last summer. Portland is expected to ask for the Heat’s recent first-round selection, Jaime Jaquez Jr., in any trade with Miami.
It is improbable that All-Star forward Pascal Siakam would fit into a Portland deal. Siakam is in the last year of his lucrative deal and has yet to sign the costly extension he is eligible for. Paying Siakam would be an odd commitment from the Blazers after they signed Jerami Grant to a five-year, $160 million contract in July, when Portland was not thought to be interested in supporting Siakam’s next contract. And do the rebuilding Blazers make long-term sense for an All-NBA star in his prime?
Anunoby carries with him his own set of financial concerns. The 26-year-old swingman has a player option for the 2024-25 season, met with several agencies before leaving Klutch Sports for CAA, and informed various representatives that he is looking for more ball-handling opportunities and a commensurate salary increase, according to sources. Perhaps there is a better possibility of happening in Portland, where Barnes’ growth will not impede Anunoby’s. It’s tough to picture Phoenix squeezing Anunoby’s next contract into its extravagant payroll — as part of the three-team idea stated above — but if any ownership group is ready to spend to that extent right now, it’s the Suns’.
For whatever amount of effort Chicago has here, the Bulls do not seem to be as strong a partner as Toronto for what the Blazers are aiming to do. According to league sources, Chicago has been exploring trade alternatives for Zach LaVine throughout the summer, but Portland does not seem interested in acquiring the All-Star guard. Simons, the Blazers’ score-first uber-athlete, has not yet achieved LaVine’s level of output but is four years younger and earns roughly half the pay. As discussed on PHLY, Chicago may redirect LaVine to another location and utilise that package to engage Portland. With his salary and injury history, there doesn’t seem to be a strong market for LaVine’s services. Although his availability has been known across the league since July, he has remained in Chicago.
Keep a look out for Utah to play a part in a three- or four-team conclusion of these Lillard discussions. If Portland does end up doing deal with Miami, the Jazz, along with the Bulls, Hornets, and Nets, are said to be interested in acquiring Tyler Herro from the Heat, according to sources. And there are plenty of executives who would rather take Miami’s greatest package, which might include Herro and Nikola Jovic in addition to Jaquez, Caleb Martin, and others.
Many of these connections will connect and lead Lillard away from the Blazers in the near future. How many actually come together, and how many other clubs and players are swapped in the process, will be determined by what Portland’s front management believes is the greatest package it can acquire, regardless of whether rival personnel and fans agree.
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