An NBA writer has put together a fascinating three-team trade proposal that has Damian Lillard going to a surprise Western Conference club.
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley proposed a trade that has the New Orleans Pelicans landing the Portland Trail Blazers’ All-Star.
The Los Angeles Clippers would receive C.J. McCollum from the Pelicans, while Portland would get five players and three picks: Marcus Morris Sr., Norman Powell, Dyson Daniels, Kira Lewis Jr. and Brandon Boston Jr. to go along with 2024, 2026 and 2027 first-rounders:
“If they ever got a healthy season out of Zion Williamson, they might have a contending-caliber twosome with him and Brandon Ingram. But that combo isn’t enough to separate from the many dynamic duos scattered across the NBA landscape.
Turn that twosome into a Big Three with Lillard, though, and suddenly New Orleans has the talent to hang with anyone. Ingram, who just flirted with a 50/40/90 slash while averaging 24.7 points and 5.8 assists, would be the third option in this offense. This attack would obliterate even the stingiest defenses…
New Orleans’ potential would feature no less than a championship parade.”
It’s been close to two months now since Lillard formally requested a trade, as reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN on July 1.
This trade proposal from Barkley makes sense for all three parties on paper. The Trail Blazers would get a great combination of players and picks to help their rebuild, while the Pelicans would be making the ultimate win-now move to complement Williamson and Ingram.
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The Clippers have needed a playmaking guard to help Paul George and Kawhi Leonard for a while. McCollum could fit that bill nicely, having averaged over 20 points per game every year since the 2015-16 campaign.
It’s been widely reported for a while that Lillard’s wish is to play for the Miami Heat, but it remains to be seen if the reigning Eastern Conference champions will end up meeting Portland’s asking price for the future Hall of Famer.
