Orlando Magic: Trading for Damian Lillard would jumpstart rebuild

It is clear the Orlando Magic are heading into a pivotal offseason. Armed with two top-10 picks in this year’s draft, the fifth and eighth selections, there should be a fair amount of optimism about the direction the roster is going in.

They still don’t have a new head coach, although that looks like it will be sorted soon, and two of their most promising players in Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz are currently out with ACL injuries. But unlike the last rebuild, the front office was proactive and got out in front of what was to come, moving the veteran core of this team.

But if the plan in the NBA is to have as many stars as possible, or at the very least one who can help you be competitive, sell tickets and attract other stars, then the Magic are still lacking and have been for a decade. So why not cash in some of the youth and promise, and go after a superstar like Damian Lillard?

The Orlando Magic aren’t going to be a free agent destination anytime soon, so why not trade for a superstar in Damian Lillard to build around?

On the surface, this might seem like a bad idea. After all trading away a lot of the potential in favor of a point guard who is 30 years old presents plenty of risk. But we have just seen Stephen Curry have an MVP calibre year at age 33, and Lillard has spent his entire career happy with a small market team like the Portland Trail Blazers.

He is owed a lot of money over the next four years, but that is exactly the reason to go after him. That long-term safety of knowing he is unable to bolt for the exit so soon after trading for him. Players have most of the power these days, and it could be that Lillard would eventually force his way out of Orlando as well, but they would definitely get something of real value back for him.

It would be fair to say that the Magic probably don’t have the most enticing trade package for Lillard. The Philadelphia 76ers could offer Ben Simmons for example, although his stock seems to fluctuate wildly depending on who you are talking to. The New Orleans Pelicans are also in a strong position in terms of picks and young players who have already shown potential.

The Orlando Magic on the other hand, although with plenty of young players in tow, don’t have any who have shown a level of consistency in the league yet. Cole Anthony had a really nice rookie year. So did R.J. Hampton, who was named Rookie of the Month on one occasion as well. Chuma Okeke looked smooth after coming back from an ACL tear of his own.

Could the Magic put those three players together, as well as the number five and eight picks, to get Lillard? If you’re asking me personally, that is arguably too much because of how high the ceiling of each of these players is right now. What about taking out Okeke for Mohamed Bamba? Or only putting in the fifth pick, and a future first round pick?

All of a sudden the Magic actually do have a number of combinations that could be enticing to the Trail Blazers. Of course Lillard is hardly asking to be sent to Orlando, but we are less than a year removed from James Harden insisting he wanted to go to the Brooklyn Nets. As we know now, he got his wish.

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If you’re ranking superstars, Harden sits higher than Lillard as well. So there is recent precedent that a deal which is not the best one on paper can end up being the one that wins out. Organizations trading stars typically end up on the losing end of the deal anyway, and you have to think that if Lillard is moved, that would be the case here as well.

Importantly for the Magic though, even if a deal like the one mentioned was sanctioned, they would still have Fultz, Isaac and Wendell Carter Jr. They could move one of those instead, Fultz as a point guard who has rehabbed his reputation perhaps, and in turn keep a pick or somebody like Anthony. A rookie who has quickly come to personify the team and could work as a two guard.

This all might seem too out there for most, but the reality is the Orlando Magic have not got involved in a deal like this probably ever. You need stars and stability to win big, and there is always a risk when you trade away a lot of your assets that one of them will end up being a key foundational piece elsewhere.

But the front office have put the roster in a position to take a sizeable hit in a trade, and still have some young players left to work with, as well as a star. Maybe it is not Damian Lillard, but are you willing to sit through another seven years of building gradually, only to realize the ceiling on the group is the first round of the playoffs? Lillard is a sure fire hit, and he might not be the right star to go after, but they don’t get much better.