Massive Clippers, Pelicans, Trail Blazers Damian Lillard Trade Idea

Could the LA Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, and Portland Trail Blazers make this trade?
Massive Clippers, Pelicans, Trail Blazers Damian Lillard Trade Idea
Massive Clippers, Pelicans, Trail Blazers Damian Lillard Trade Idea /

In a recent article from Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley, a massive three-team trade between the LA Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, and Portland Trail Blazers was proposed that sends Damian Lillard to New Orleans. The entire deal looked like this:

New Orleans Pelicans get: Damian Lillard

Los Angeles Clippers get: CJ McCollum

Portland Trail Blazers get: Norman Powell, Marcus Morris Sr., Dyson Daniels, Brandon Boston Jr., Kira Lewis Jr., 2024 first-round pick (from NOP), 2026 first-round pick (from NOP) and 2027 first-round pick (from NOP via MIL)

In this hypothetical trade proposal from Bleacher Report, the Clippers get another high-level scoring guard in McCollum, the Pelicans put an All-NBA star next to Zion Williamson, and the Trail Blazers finally stock up on draft assets in a Lillard deal.

This trade of course assumes the Clippers do not make a deal for James Harden, as McCollum would not fit on their team in that scenario. While it could make sense for the Pelicans to go all-in on a Lillard deal, the return for Portland here is what gets tricky.

While the collection of draft assets heading to the Trail Blazers in this deal is significant, taking back Powell's contract - one they recently dumped for close to nothing, could be something they shut down. While these massive multi-team hypothetical trades are always pretty unlikely, this one seems to have very little chance of occurring.

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Joey Linn
JOEY LINN

Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined Sports Illustrated's FanNation to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams during his time in school. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts, combined with his excellence in the classroom, earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time across multiple platforms, primarily serving as a credentialed Clippers beat writer.