The Portland Trail Blazers were one of the most active teams in the NBA ahead of the trade deadline. They parted ways with multiple rotation players, clearing salary with the hopes of rebuilding the roster around Damian Lillard this offseason.
Interim general manager Joe Cronin traded away CJ McCollum, Larry Nance Jr., Robert Covington and Norman Powell, freeing up a substantial amount of future salary-cap space. With multiple first-round picks in the 2022 NBA Draft and money to spend, the team is hoping to upgrade the supporting cast on the roster.
It would be hard to imagine this is a plan they didn’t run past Lillard first, but it is certainly peculiar. Portland has never been a free agent hotspot and this year’s crop of free agents is pretty underwhelming.
The way the Trail Blazers operated ahead of the deadline was as if they knew a trade request from Lillard was eventually coming. This roster is further away from contention now than it was coming into the season, and they weren’t very close even with all the veterans they traded away.
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Lillard was recently one of the players named as the next potential superstar to be on the move, along with Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz and Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans. Of the three, it would seem Lillard is the closest to leaving town.
Where could he end up should he request a trade? Here are three ideal destinations for Lillard if he is moved.