Damian Lillard (Photo : Twitter)
The Portland Trail Blazers has been one of the season's biggest disappointments and that places them as prime movers in NBA trade rumors.
When you have one of the biggest payrolls in the league and you're not even in the playoff hunt, your owner will definitely push for changes.
There have been many rumors involving Allen Crabbe, Evan Turner, Mason Plumlee and even Cj McCollum but have they ever considered trading their franchise player, Damian Lillard?
Trust Bill Simmons of The Ringer to put out of the box ideas out in the open. In his latest column, he inserted this tidbit, more like a "thinking out loud" side comment.
"Damian Lillard (I like him 93.7 percent as much as I like McCollum, and they definitely need their own teams, so what about Dame to Minnesota for Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and a top-four protected pick?)"
The Blazers have always been rumored to look for a frontcourt star to pair with their backcourt pair of Lillard and McCollum. There was no report of any friction between them and they have often been deemed as "Splash Brothers lite."
However, when Dame was injured, the potential for McCollum was unleashed as he manned the point guard position quite competently. The knock on this tandem is their defense. They make an explosive offensive combo when they're together but they are a liability defensively as Zach Lowe of ESPN explained in his dissection of the Blazers.
Lillard and McCollum can easily be wiped out by screens or be posted on, so the idea of acquiring Lavine and Dunn, two guards with more size, seems like an easy consideration.
However, the Blazers need to trade their serviceable players for stars. The concept of building a superteam is adding stars with other stars, not trading the star your team already has. The only time a team should trade their star is because he is disgruntled or becoming detrimental to the team. The Sacramento Kings' DeMarcus Cousins has crossed this threshold long ago, yet they hold onto him.
The Blazers don't have this problem. "We got no haters here," Lillard said. "Guys are happy for each other." But will their chemistry be enough to cover their defense, one of the worst in the league?
Trading McCollum could get them some young pieces (Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor, Greg Monroe or Paul Millsap if they add assets) but Lillard to the Timberwolves can place defensive backcourt players around McCollum. We'll have to wait and see if this will even be considered.
