NBA expert believes that the Boston Celtics could trade for Damian Lillard this off-season.
The Boston Celtics and Portland Trailblazers have two things in common this season. The first is, being eliminated in the first round, and the second being that both organizations fired their head coach.
After just days of being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, both organizations immediately started to make moves and fired their head coach. Even though Brad Stevens is still with the organization as the general manager, Terry Stotts is no longer associated with the Portland Trailblazers.
Hiring a new head coach is just the first of many steps that both organizations need to make this off-season. Tweaking the roster and signing impactful roleplayers is the primary focus that both teams need to make. According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, the Celtics are in a ‘good position’ to trade for Damian Lillard.
Most if not all teams will likely pursue the Portland TrailBlazers in hopes of successfully trading for Damian Lillard. Since being drafted in 2012, Lillard has been the face of the Trailblazers organization while consistently being one of the best point guards the NBA has ever seen. Trading for a superstar like Lillard would require many assets that would help the rebuild towards the future.
The Boston Celtics, who have many young players that barely receive playing time, could be included in. trade for Lillard this off-season. In addition, the Celtics also have future draft picks and a solid replacement at the point guard position to trade. Here is what a possible trade offer could look like if the Celtics pursue Lillard.
Celtics receive- Damian Lillard, CJ Elleby
Trailblazers receive- Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, Aaron Nesmith, Payton Pritchard, a 2022 unprotected first-round pick, a 2025 unprotected first-round pick, and a top-five protected 2027 first-round pick.
The Celtics will need to offer something similar to this trade package if they want to ensure that they can successfully trade for Damian Lillard. Most franchises this off-season will try to trade for Lillard. This means that the Celtics would have to overpay to ensure that they can acquire one of the best players in the NBA today.
While competing with other franchisees is a factor as to why the Celtics need to offer a trade package similar to the one above, another reason is to compensate for Kemba Walker’s contract. Unless the Celtics could trade Walker to a different organization before pursuing the Trailblazers, the only way for Boston to acquire Lillard is to include Walker for salary-cap reasons.
Kemba Walker this season played poorly due to nagging knee issues. However, towards the end of the regular season, Walker slowly returned to his old self before injuring his other knee during the first round of the playoffs. Trading for Walker is a massive risk as he has been unable to return to his old self since receiving his knee surgery. This is why the Celtics would have to offer a lot more than just Walker. Most organizations do not want to compensate for a player who is on a super-max contract while being injury-prone. However, why is this a good trade for the Trailblazers despite Walker’s inclusion in this trade?
The Portland Trailblazers are in a very tight situation. With little to no salary-cap room, the Blazers cannot sign top free agents and instead are in this constant loop of signing average to below-average role players. The Blazers have followed this continuous loop of disappointing failures for five straight seasons. Unless the Blazers can somehow upgrade CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic to two All-Stars, Portland will continue to follow their same recipe of constant failures.
It’s time for the Blazers organization to accept that they cannot win a championship with this roster. Patience is running thin for Damian Lillard. He is fed up with the Blazers consistency of being a first-round exit type franchise. The good news is, Lillard is still willing to play for the Trailblazers despite all of their failures. That’s an advantage that the Houston Rockets wish they had with James Harden this season.
The Portland Trailblazers should first attempt to make some significant moves that could change the landscape of the Blazers roster. Their current roster is still a playoff contender in the Western Conference, which means that they could still try to make a run for the championship. However, suppose the Blazers are unsuccessful in upgrading their roster. In that case, the Blazers will have no choice but to trade Lillard.
Concluding Thoughts
The Boston Celtics have many young assets and draft picks that they could offer to Portland. A rebuild could be in order for the Blazers organization, depending on the direction they pursue. It’s understandable why Chris Mannix believes that the Celtics could be in a ‘good position’ to trade for Lillard. Be sure to pay close attention to the Celtics this off-season. They are projected to make one of the biggest trade packages for a superstar in NBA history!