Denver Nuggets Receive: G Damian Lillard
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: G Jamal Murray, F Zeke Nnaji, G Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland, DEN 2026 1st Round Pick (Top-5 Protected)
A trade involving Damian Lillard would most likely include several other teams and this kind of trade likely would not occur until the offseason, but if the Nuggets were to pursue him independently, they would almost definitely have to trade Jamal Murray and/or Michael Porter Jr.
Murray is coming off of a torn ACL in his left knee and will not be ready to go until sometime in 2022, but he has made tremendous strides every single year he has been in the NBA and is one of those young talents on the verge of making his first All-Star appearance.
The 24-year-old point guard had some breakout performances in the 2020 NBA Bubble and since then, he has continued to improve as one of the better scoring guards in this league.
If Portland was to trade Lillard at some point, this would signal them preparing to rebuild and having Jamal Murray be the face of their new era is definitely not a terrible thing.
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: 10 Teams Still Interested In Making Ben Simmons Trade
Not to mention, Zeke Nnaji and Nah’Shon Hyland are two young talents with a lot of potential. Nnaji was drafted 22nd overall last season and Hyland was picked 26th overall by Denver this offseason.
When you look at Denver and what they have achieved over the years, it is hard not to call them a real threat in the league, but they are not part of the “A-class” yet with teams like the Lakers, Nets, and Bucks.
Adding another superstar and All-NBA talent like Lillard not only elevates them to this class, but just imagine what he and Jokic could achieve together.
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: 10 Teams Still Interested In Making Ben Simmons Trade
Denver does an excellent job of playing a “two-man game” with Jokic and Murray already and this combo combined for over 40% of the Nuggets total scoring last season. Substituting Lillard in for Murray in this “one-two attack” not only gives the Nuggets a better chance to score, but it could be lethal for teams to guard because you cannot stop both of them in this situation!
A trade involving Damian Lillard going to the Nuggets is not going to happen, at least this season, but let’s see what this trade could do for both teams and whether or not this is something both the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers would even be interested in.
