Damian Lillard to Philadelphia 76ers
Finally, we have a possible Damian Lillard to the Philadelphia 76ers trade that could help end this summer-long madness. Before we even jump into it, it should be made clear that the Sixers don’t have the draft capital to get a deal done. However, if the Blazers are intrigued with Tyrese Maxey, perhaps that could help Philadelphia jump into the bidding war. Here’s where it gets complicated; the Blazers are pretty loaded in the backcourt. Adding Maxey would only make it that much more convoluted.
If the Blazers wanted, I suppose they could try to trade Maxey to a third team and target a small forward or draft picks to make this deal work. Additionally, Tobias Harris would have to be included, as an expiring contract, to make the money work. That’s not a huge deal. What Philadelphia does have is second-round picks. They could send four of them to Portland in such an offer, along with multiple pick swaps.
The Sixers would be able to get Lillard and salvage Joel Embiid’s presence on the team for the time being. A Lillard-Embiid duo would make a ton of sense for both Lillard and the Sixers.
It’s hard to imagine how the Lillard saga will end. Will he be traded to the Heat? Will another team step up to make a strong offer? At this point, it’s all pretty unpredictable.