It’s already been two weeks since Damian Lillard’s trade request from the Portland Trail Blazers was made public.
The 33-year-old and future Hall of Famer, however, remains a member of the only NBA team he’s ever known. For now.
It has been widely reported over the last two weeks that the Miami Heat are the front-runners to land Lillard. Not only that, but it has even been reported that Lillard won’t report to any team but the Heat if he ends up being traded.
At NBA Analysis Network, James Piercey proposed a blockbuster trade in which the Minnesota Timberwolves land Lillard from Portland in exchange for fellow All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and Kyle Anderson:
“Some will argue against this for Portland. If they’re rebuilding, shouldn’t they start from scratch? No. The Blazers don’t need to start from scratch. With Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Anfernee Simons on the roster, they’ve already got one of the best young cores in the NBA.
That means the Blazers can skip steps. They don’t need to rebuild in the traditional sense – they’ve already done it. Portland can strive to stay competitive if they choose to.”
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If the Trail Blazers are looking for a veteran impact player to help them win now, then the trade proposal put together by Piercey makes perfect sense. Towns and rookie Scoot Henderson would form a dynamic scoring duo and keep the Trail Blazers in playoff contention for 2023-24 and beyond.
But of course, it remains to be seen if Lillard would actually agree to join a team other than the Heat if he were traded. Minnesota certainly wouldn’t give up Towns to Portland if they didn’t get reassurance that Lillard would report to them.
A seven-time All-Star, Lillard averaged 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game in 58 contests for Portland last season.
