NBA Trades: 10 win-now deals Portland can make to give Dame a co-star

Co-star #9: Victor Wembanyama

Of all of the trades on this list, this may be the most unorthodox one, but it would accomplish the goal of giving Dame a co-star. Depending on where Portland’s pick ends up, they could be in a position to trade up in the NBA Draft. For them to even be in that position would take some luck. Their pick is currently projected to be 6th, but there is a decent chance that they move up into the top 4 of the draft.

If they end up with the third overall pick, they could then potentially convince whoever is lucky enough to get the top pick to trade back. That may be difficult, but perhaps not impossible. Would a team turn down five first-round picks to move down two spots? Wembanyama is perhaps the greatest draft prospect ever, but a team offering five firsts is incredibly rare, as is turning them down.

In terms of potential, Wembanyama is definitely worth five first-round picks, but is he worth more than Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller and four picks? That is a harder question. Back to Portland, trading up to number one assumes that Wembanyama is the real deal and can make an immediate impact.

He may not be an immediate 20-point, 10-rebound, and 2-block center, but he could be a game-changer on the defensive end and draw enough attention on offense to make Lillard a more dangerous offensive weapon. It would be a risky long play for the Blazers, but trading up for Wembanyama would give Lillard a co-star and Portland a player to potentially build around post-Lillard.