NBA Trade Rumors: Predicting 8 most likely dark horse suitors for Damian Lillard

NBA Trade Rumors: Could a surprise dark horse suitor emerge for Damian Lillard? We explore that possibility. 

The start of NBA Training Camps is roughly three weeks away and there’s no indication that the Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers have made any progress on a Damian Lillard trade. That could open the door for another dark horse team jumping into the Lillard bidding war – in fact, the Blazers might be secretly hoping for that.

The further this saga drags toward the start of the season, I firmly believe there becomes a better and better chance of that happening. In anticipation of that possibility, we’ll begin to discuss a few surprise dark horse suitors that could begin to emerge for Lillard as non-Heat options.

We’ll begin with a few honorable mentions that had to be discussed due to the asset inventory that they currently have. However, in the end, I ultimately don’t believe any of the honorable mentions will emerge as serious threats for Lillard due to the fact that they aren’t close to competing for a title. I don’t envision the Blazers, despite all their posturing, trading Lillard to a non-contender.

Predicting the most likely potential dark horse suitors for Damian Lillard

Honorable mentions

Utah Jazz – The Utah Jazz certainly have the trade assets that it would take to acquire Lillard but I have a hard time envisioning them being willing to go all-in for a 33-year-old star that doesn’t fit with the rest of the team’s timeline. It’s not a move that makes sense for any party, other than the Blazers, involved.

San Antonio Spurs – Similarly to the Jazz, the San Antonio Spurs are another team that theoretically has the draft capital to pull off a move for Lillard. But acquiring Lillard to pair next to Victor Wembanyama before he’s even played an official minute in the NBA seems more like an NBA 2K move than a real-life possibility.

Oklahoma City Thunder – In fairness, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the one team that would make sense on some level. They have the assets to pull off the move but the big question is whether a core of Lillard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Chet Holmgren/Josh Giddey (whichever player wouldn’t be included in the deal) would be good enough to compete for a championship in the next 2-3 seasons (Lillard’s championship window).

I’d lean no, so that’s why I can’t consider the Thunder that much of a dark horse threat. Sam Presti is one of the best general managers in the league and I can’t imagine him making such a rash, and probably foolish, move.

Let’s get to the real potential dark horse suitors for Lillard.