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

1. Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76es shouldn’t be counted out just yet. Even with their unresolved situation with James Harden, they could emerge as a dark horse threat to pry Damian Lillard away from the Miami Heat. If the Portland Trail Blazers would have any interest in Tyrese Maxey, this is where it gets interesting. They don’t have the multiple first-round picks that the Blazers would want but a potential all-star player in Maxey could help make up for that.

Even if the Blazers aren’t interested in Maxey, due to their logjam in the backcourt, Philly could theoretically trade Maxey to a third team that may be interested in him to get added assets to send Portland’s way to get a deal done.

If the Sixers would want to go down that path, I have a hard time believing that Lillard wouldn’t be open to at least giving the Sixers a thought. Joel Embiid is playing at an MVP level right now and Lillard may be a player that helps take this team over the top.

The next couple of weeks in the Lillard saga should be quite telling. Will he find his way to the Heat? Will any team step up to pry him away?