Portland Trail Blazers: 5 teams who could trade for Damian Lillard

The Portland Trail Blazers have had a wild start to their offseason, from firing their head coach to hiring a new one. Their general manager sounded angry and delusional defending his decision to fire Terry Stotts, and their PR director sounded arrogant and deceptive shooting down questions about new head coach Chauncey Billups’ sexual assault accusations from 1997.

This piece isn’t here to comment on Billups, the hiring, or the Trail Blazers‘ handling of the situation (you can read about that here). This piece is here because all of the dust kicked up has brought with it the possibility of something catastrophic for Portland: Damian Lillard might want to leave.

Rumors are swirling that Damian Lillard may request a trade out of town. Which teams could make an offer that the Portland Trail Blazers would accept?

The rumor first truly gained steam with the publishing of an article by Chris Haynes, long known to be a confidante of Lillard. He postulated (reported?) that the fan backlash after the Billups hiring and the Trail Blazers’ team struggles recently could drive Lillard out the door. That is, the longtime Portland hero could demand a trade.

Teams that won’t trade for Damian Lillard

While every team would want Damian Lillard, most of the teams in the league either wouldn’t have enough to offer or wouldn’t be a worthy landing spot. Lillard is a Portland icon; in the midst of a nasty media cycle they won’t generate more bad blood by dumping Lillard on a rebuilding team. That means the likes of the Orlando Magic, OKC Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers are out no matter the trade package they can provide.

The Trail Blazers also won’t trade Lillard for pennies on the dollar. The Los Angeles Lakers, the LA Clippers, the Milwaukee Bucks — these teams don’t have much of anything to offer in a trade. That narrows the list of potential suitors significantly.

Here are five teams that can compete with Lillard, but also put together a reasonable trade package. None of them are perfect, but there probably isn’t a perfect trade sitting out there for Lillard. Other contenders drained their assets trading for players such as Anthony Davis, Paul George and Jrue Holiday. These five teams have a shot.