It’s nearly been two months since Damian Lillard demanded a trade away from the Portland Trail Blazers, preferably to the Miami Heat. However, since his reported July 1 trade demand, there has been no traction in trade talks between the Blazers and any other team (including the Heat). That’s not entirely surprising, especially after Blazers’ general manager said that this process could take “months” during a press conference last month.
Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be added urgency for the Blazers to find a trade (to the Heat or any other suitor) before the start of training camp. Portland is slated to open its training camp in early October. We explore five reasons the Blazers must find a Lillard trade before then.
5 Reasons Damian Lillard trade must be done before the Portland Trail Blazers open training camp
The potential of Damian Lillard emerging as a distraction
It may not be in his DNA or the type of person he’s built his NBA reputation on, but what if Damian Lillard decides to make things messy to get his demand? What if his relationship with Blazers general manager Joe Cronin is in a place where Lillard would want to hold out from training camp or do a sitdown interview to paint the organization and its decision-makers in a bad light?
Many never believed that Lillard would never demand a trade away from the Blazers, yet here we are. The last thing the young, promising Blazers players need heading into the start of training camp is a distraction.
Even if Lillard shows up to camp and says all the right things; he’ll still be a distraction with questions about his future being at the center of the start of the Blazers’ season.
While it may not be likely in the mids of some, perhaps even to some in the Blazers’ front office, Lillard emerging as a distraction is not something you can entirely count out from happening.
Damian Lillard’s trade value is only decreasing
If we’re being quite honest, Damian Lillard’s trade value is only decreasing with every passing day. Even though Lillard is coming off a fantastic season with the Blazers, he’s 33 years old and isn’t getting any younger. From a macro perspective, I don’t envision a scenario where Lillard’s trade value at any point this season is better than it is right now.
You can make an argument that perhaps if a contender loses a key player due to an injury then maybe they’d be more inclined to jump into the Lillard race. However, that’s almost like a pipe dream scenario at this point.
The one thing the Blazers don’t have when it comes to Lillard’s trade value is time. He’s still in the prime of his career but maybe has 1-2 years of elite play left in him? I have a hard time believing that a 35-year-old Lillard is going to be an All-NBA player. That simply doesn’t happen in the NBA for non-LeBron players.
Lillard’s value is high right now, so it makes sense for the Blazers to be asking for the moon. However, at some point, if the moon isn’t available, maybe you take a couple of stars? Lillard’s value will not get any better than it is right now. There’s no sense in hoping it does by carrying him onto the roster without certainty of the offers getting better.
The risk of injury for Damian Lillard is too great
If the Portland Trail Blazers’ master plan in trying to get a better trade offer for Damian Lillard involves carrying him on the roster heading into training camp, that’s fine as long as they know the risks that come with that possibility. In Portland were to go down that path, the Blazers almost have to have him sit out from participating in camp due to the huge risk of injury that could arise.
I wouldn’t call Lillard an injury-prone player, but he’s battled his fair share of injuries over the course of his career. Suffering any kind of injury, especially a serious one, could completely bomb his trade value and any leverage the Blazers have at the moment.
At the very least, the Blazers would have to be careful with how they manage Lillard in training camp. And even more so when the season starts. The big question that the Blazers must ask themselves is whether or not they’re ready to make that level of a gamble for a small chance that the offers for Lillard get better.
In a vacuum, that doesn’t seem like a great trade-off for a team looking to make the pivot toward a rebuild.
It’s unlikely any other team goes all-in for Damian Lillard
The goal in keeping Damian Lillard on the roster heading into training camp and potential into the season revolves around the idea that another team will jump in to either outbid the Miami Heat or negotiate against them to offer a better deal. However, does this theory hold any water? What are the odds that another team would jump into the pursuit of Lillard when training camps open or even in-season? They’d have to be low.
Looking at the teams that “make sense” for Lillard, maybe the Philadelphia 76ers come around and are open to trading Tyrese Maxey? But they kind of have their own issues with James Harden right now. That seems unlikely. Would the Boston Celtics make an offer? Maybe, but I’d have to imagine they will be more focused on building chemistry with their new-look roster when training camp opens.
The New York Knicks don’t make sense as a suitor unless they’re going to trade Jalen Brunson. Would the Brooklyn Nets decide to go all-in? Maybe. Perhaps the Toronto Raptors jump in? I suppose that’s a hope. Then you have the young teams with plenty of assets, but why would any of those teams burn their foundations for a 33-year-old star?
The idea that another team is going to join the bidding war for Lillard just seems like an unlikely pipe dream. It makes even less sense for something like that to develop once the season starts.
The Blazers shouldn’t want to burn the bridge with Damian Lillard
Finally, and perhaps the most important reason why the Portland Trail Blazers should trade Damian Lillard before the start of training camp, is because the last thing that needs to be done is for a bridge to be burned between the two sides. When Lillard’s pursuit of a title is over, wherever he gets traded, he’s likely going to come back to Portland. The only thing that could possibly prevent that from happening is a burned bridge.
Even after he retires, Lillard is going to be a prominent face in the Portland community. The Blazers can’t burn that bridge. Sometimes pettiness and ego can cause that to happen. Has Lillard put the organization in a great spot with the specificity of his trade demand? No. However, there’s a reason for that. Either he was misled by the general manager or something went wrong along the way in their relationship. That’s the only explanation for Lillard’s change of character recently.
And the Blazers should bite the bullet for that. Burning a bridge with Lillard is not worth it in the long run for the franchise just to get one more first-round pick or to try and save face by saying they traded Lillard on their terms.
That’s selfish and will only damage the relationship more than it has already been. It’s time for the Blazers to make lemonade out of lemons, and trade Lillard before the start of training camp.