12-29-2021, 12:17 PM
(12-29-2021, 09:20 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: I wonder what the market is for Dame Lillard. I am behind on my podcasts and I was listening to a Zach Lowe podcast from a few weeks ago. He brought up the question that he asked other teams of when it is time to be worried about Dame. The answer he got was now. He said this probably doesn't include Philly.
Portland has a lot of free agents and is really a team in transition. They may also want to do well for Dame if he is moved. That doesn't mean they will take a deep discount but this could limit the number of teams would would be targets.
But who could be some of these teams? This summer the thinking was the Knicks could have a competitive offer. That offer does not look as strong now. Would Golden State offer their young players for another high usage player? To be honest, I think the answer would be no at this point. Would replacing Dame with Simmons and picks really put Portland in a better spot? Would Boston include Jaylon Brown? I probably would not and try to improve my talent around Tatum and Brown instead. Would Dame really want to go to New Orleans? That just seems like a team Dame would tell Portland he would prefer to go somewhere else.
Is there a team in hiding? Typically I go back to Miami but with their moves for Lowry this offseason, they are out of the picture.
It is likely that both Dame and Bradley Beal may hit the market. But both have been down this year so far. Beal is expecting a super max. It will be interesting to see if teams go in with A Plus offers. I think it is a sellers market but for the top tier guys the demand may be a little more tricky.
I think if Dame and Portland part ways, within reason, Portland will do him a solid and send him wherever he wants to go. And if Dame does decide it is time to go, he'll want to go to a legitimate contender. I still think the Lakers are an interesting trade partner in that they'll try to maximize LeBron's closing championship window and are over a barrel with Westbrook. If I'm going to go into a rebuild, I'd take Westbrook to lead the tank and getting multiple future first rounders from the Lakers could be pretty valuable. '27 and '29 is a long way away and a gamble if they are able to successfully and quickly retool from the LeBron/AD/Dame era. You could also take THT and flip him pretty easily for another FRP.