Would the Toronto Raptors and Portland Trail Blazers pull the trigger?
This is probably the most difficult question to answer. For both sides, this is not an easy question. There are potential consequences for both the Raptors and Blazers. For Toronto, would they be able to convince Damian Lillard that he can win a championship with the franchise? Would they be getting a motivated and 100 percent locked-in Lillard? You can say Lillard is a professional and he is going to play wherever he is traded, but even if there’s a 1 percent chance that he would be deflated by a trade to Toronto, it may not be worth it in the eyes of the Raptors.
And for the Blazers, the potential repercussions may be greater. Would Portland be willing to accept a trade from the Raptors if it meant ripping up a decade-plus-long relationship with arguably the best player that has ever played for the franchise?
That may ultimately be what it comes down to. If the offers are similar in terms of value, should the Blazers trade Lillard to a place he doesn’t want to be? Should they make that emotional of a decision without thinking of the possible public relations repercussions that could come down the line?
There’s a chance this ends up coming to fruition. And if it did, would the Blazers make the move? Or would cooler heads prevail in all this?