Jazz Deal Promising Rookie in Newest Damian Lillard Trade Proposal
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The road toward the inevitable split between the Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard has been a long one to endure for NBA fans this offseason. After a consistent unwillingness to fulfill Lillard’s request to be sent to the Miami Heat, we have been sitting at a stalemate on a trade for what seems like an eternity at this point.
With a move to South Beach increasingly seeming to be a lost cause, some have begun to pin some opposing surprise candidates to host a deal for the 7x All-Star guard. Like many other times we have seen this offseason, the Utah Jazz have stuck around as a sleeper candidate to make a trade for Lillard.
In Bleacher Report's latest piece on potential ‘NBA Chaos Making’ trades, Zach Buckley put together another attempt at a package for the Jazz to land Damian Lillard:
Jazz trade: G Keyonte George, G Collin Sexton, F/C Kelly Olynyk, G Talen Horton-Tucker, 2025 first-round pick (from CLE), 2027 top-four protected first-round pick (via LAL)
Trail Blazers trade: G Damian Lillard
For what would be one of the biggest blockbuster trades in Jazz history, Utah would get back a top-75 NBA player of all time, while sending out a collection of assets centered around 2023 first-round pick Keyonte George.
Buckley continued to detail how this massive move would impact both the Jazz and Trail Blazers moving forward, giving Utah a route to be a ’second tier’ contender:
"Someone else should see this stalemate as an opportunity to swoop in and swipe one of the league's most dynamic scorers. Why not Utah?...He might have a supporting cast as strong as any Portland ever put around him, and the Jazz would have the superstar who lets everyone trickle down into a better fitting role.
This wouldn't push Utah to the top of the contender list, but it could snag it a spot on the second tier."
"Portland, meanwhile, could take the incoming package in different directions if it wanted.
The Jazz have no shortage of prospects or draft picks, so the Blazers could ask for just about anything
—other than Markkanen, Kessler and maybe Taylor Hendricks...The Blazers could certainly seek out more than a pair of first-round picks, but that would cut into the incoming prospects, as Lillard is 33 already and has some wildly expensive seasons in front of him."
For a proposed trade offer, there are worse ideas that have been thrown out there throughout the course of this summer. Assets shipped out would only consist of two, practically three first-round picks (if you count Keyonte George), two expiring deals in Olynyk and Horton-Tucker, alongside a solid player in Sexton on a team-friendly contract.
In return would be a contender for one of the most talented players to ever put on a Jazz jersey. Yes, this would be a deal I would at least consider as Danny Ainge.
Any trade involving Summer League star Keyonte George would be a hard pill to swallow, but getting a current top-15 player in the league back as compensation helps ease the blow a bit.
Sure, Keyonte has all the potential to become a star one day; anyone who watched his play in Vegas in July would tell you that. However, you know what you have in a player like Lillard: one of the best scorers, shooters, and guards this generation has seen.
As Buckley said, this might not be a move to vault the Jazz into immediate championship conversations, but this would still be the best-supporting cast Lillard has seen in his entire career. By retaining the majority of their vault of first-round picks, building up this roster even further would imminently be in the cards for Dame.
Without any commotion surrounding a change in the situation, there is some clear difficulty when it comes to confidently pulling the trigger on this type of trade. Reports suggesting Lillard would be unhappy on any team not named the Heat have had teams since backing away from pooling heavy assets in to make such a gamble.
The Miami Heat are the only team seriously pursuing Damian Lillard, per @WindhorstESPN
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 1, 2023
“As I look across the league and have conversations with executives and agents, I can't identify another team that is seriously making an offer for Damian Lillard at this point. My belief is… pic.twitter.com/8wKF1muGk3
In due time, things could still be ironed out for the Jazz to make the strike. But for now, fans might have to stay patient a bit longer to see any shift on the front lines.
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