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

Teams that could trade for Damian Lillard: Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors have missed the playoffs for two straight seasons after reaching the NBA Finals for five straight. They are hungry to get back into contention and compete for a title. With Klay Thompson set to return early in the season they have their core three stars in Thompson, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green to build on.

The Warriors would love to add a fourth player to that mix by trading their collection of assets. They saw last season how difficult it is to balance winning with player development, and they would welcome a chance to move on from their young prospects and draft picks in return for a win-now star.

Trade package: James Wiseman, Andrew Wiggins, 2021 first-round pick (7th), future first-round pick, two first-round pick swaps to Portland; Damian Lillard to Golden State

The idea of pairing Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard in a backcourt is mind-blowing to consider. The difficulty defending Curry or Lillard alone breaks defenses; both together is an impossibility, before one even adds Thompson back into the mix. Three of the four or five best shooters in the league — three top-10 shooters all-time — all sprinting off of screens and racing around the arc. Defensive coordinators would quit and go home.

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Defensively there would be questions that needed answering, and the team would need to find a wing to replace Wiggins in the rotation, be that re-signing Kelly Oubre Jr. or signing someone with the tax-payer midlevel. In this iteration the Trail Blazers opt for a future pick instead of 14 this year to relieve any roster crunches; that could give the Warriors a player to help as well.

Would Portland agree to this deal? It likely depends on what they think of James Wiseman. Last year’s second overall pick plus another top-10 pick to choose any player they like is a strong centerpiece. Add in a future pick, perhaps late enough for there to be the risk of age-related decline for the Warriors, and it’s an attractive package.

It would have to be, because the Blazers are also taking back Andrew Wiggins. A year ago that would have been an impossibility, but he had such a good season his contract is simply a mild overpay for a good player, instead of an inexplicable overpay for a bad player. He could start on the wing and be a two-way option moving forward.

In the end, the Trail Blazers have to hope they won’t have to move Lillard now or in the future. Yet if things go from rocky to broken he could be on the move, and these five teams could be options that work for both Lillard and Portland. It will be wild to see him in any other uniform, but it will probably be really fun to watch.