Lillard Requests Trade

Damian Lillard officially requested a trade on July 1. Not only has he requested a trade but he has a preferred destination. His preferred destination is with the Miami Heat who appeared in the 2023 NBA finals per Shams Charania. Is this the best fit for Lillard or is there a better contender for him? Reports from Shams Charania say that the Clippers,76ers, and Heat are amongst the frontrunners for making offers to Lillard but reports from Chris Haynes say Lillard prefers Brooklyn or Miami.

The 76ers are one of the teams interested in trading for Damian Lillard. The 76ers have been facing their own concerns surrounding James Harden who has opted in only for the team to explore trade options. The 76ers are one of the best teams in the league and certainly in the East but have come up short in previous playoffs. Lillard could provide great shooting and scoring for the 76ers along with Embiid inside scoring. They could be a potential threat to anyone in the league. Philadelphia however has no interest in trading Tyrese Maxey in a deal for Lillard though according to Jake Fischer of yahoo sports. This could be a potential deal breaker if they have any hopes of getting Lillard.

The L.A. Clippers are another potential team that could land Damian Lillard. With Lillard being from Oakland California, he could come back home to the state of California which has great leverage for some players regarding where they play in the NBA. The Clippers have battled injuries over the past few years around their star players Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. These injuries put the franchise in a hole at times because they can't compete against high-level teams in the league and one might argue that it held them away from reaching the NBA finals in 2021 when Kawhi tore his ACL in the playoffs. Lillard could help solve that problem, potentially by taking the load of the offense away from PG and Kawhi. The Clippers might get a good chance at competing once again for the championship if Lillard were to arrive in L.A.

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Brooklyn Nets would be a very interesting situation for Lillard if he were to end up there. He would be in an upgraded version of the Blazers there. All of the pieces that the Nets have compliment Lillard a great deal whereas with Portland who has some exciting young talent with Sharpe, Simmons, and the third overall pick Scoot Henderson, they don't compliment Lillard as much. They all play the guard position and score first. With Brooklyn, you have wing scorers and defenders in Cam Johnson and Mikael Bridges. Also, Lillard and Bridges have a close relationship, and with Bridges emerging as a star in this league averaging 27 PPG since being traded to the Nets, Lillard for the first time will play alongside someone who can average 25 plus per game. Nic Claxton has proven himself as one of the best interior defenders in the league, Finney-Smith is a proven defender that can be streaky at times, and Dinwiddie is a very notable scorer off the bench. The Nets would be a fun watch for sure and could contend in the East.

The Miami Heat, to me, will be the front runners of all and eventually be the winner of the Lillard trade. I believe Miami will trade whatever is necessary outside of Butler to acquire Damian Lillard. The rumors surrounding Lillard to the Heat have been here for a while, even going as far as when the playoffs were underway. Lillard dropped potential hints that he wouldn't mind playing for the Heat, and Miami definitely wouldn't mind having him. The Heat lost in the 2023 NBA finals and have overachieved many expectations being the eighth seed. Lillard would bring expectations for the Heat and will certainly be a much better team than last year. Also, Lillard reported by Shams Charania, that he prefers Miami over every other team. Assuming Portland will abide by their star's wishes especially considering the loyalty he's shown to him over the years it will happen. We can expect Portland to want picks and shooters surrounding their rookie Scoot. This will give Portland the chance to rebuild and Miami the chance to compete even more against the Eastern Conference and Denver if they were to meet again in the finals.

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