The Portland Trail Blazers own the No. 3 pick in the NBA Draft but Damian Lillard is giving them plenty of reason not to make that pick.
With the NBA Draft only two weeks, the rumor mill is heating up. Will Damian Lillard get traded by the Trail Blazers this offseason? What can Portland do to make sure that Lillard does not request a trade?
As reported by Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, it seems like a Damian Lillard trade might be on the way if Portland does not trade the No. 3 overall pick.
"If they keep that pick, whether its Scoot [Henderson] or anybody else, I think a serious conversation would be had about potentially parting ways," Haynes said on the Dan Patrick Show.
Damian Lillard gives Trail Blazers incentive to trade No. 3 NBA Draft pick
Pending something crazy, it seems like Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller will most likely be the pick that the Trail Blazers make with the third pick (if they choose to keep it).
If Portland was to go down this road, Damian Lillard would seem to want out of the only organization that he has ever played for. The only way for the Blazers to avoid this would be to trade the pick for veteran help.
In all likelihood, it seems like the only trade that would keep the All-NBA player in town would be one where they are able to get a All-Star level running mate in return.
A trade that makes way too much sense is a framework that would use the third overall pick and Anfernee Simons for Jaylen Brown of the Celtics. However, Lillard reportedly wants nothing to do with Boston.
Another option could be Pascal Siakam. The Raptors decided to semi-push forward with this group after trading a lightly-protected pick for Jakob Poeltl at the deadline.
Still, an offer where Toronto was able to get a rookie with lots of talent might be something that is too good to pass up. It would be a bit tricky to make salary work in that deal. You could easily add in Simons like you did in the last deal but he might be not worth trading with the third overall pick for Siakam.
With the way things have been in Portland in the Lillard era of basketball, it would be really hard to see him leave a team that he has been so committed to. Still with the amount of news from very relevant sources, it seems like it is now or never for the Trail Blazers.