Damian Lillard is most likely going to find a new home in the next month or so after officially handing in a trade request from the Portland Trail Blazers. This ends an 11-year-long relationship between the team and player, and the Blazers are determined to get valuable assets coming back for their franchise superstar. The team is reportedly going to send Dame to the team with the best trade package, irrespective of Dame’s wishes to go to the Miami Heat.
With the Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz emerging as suitors, an unlikely candidate could throw their hat in the mix. The Memphis Grizzlies have a generational young point guard on their hands that they can’t quite control, as Ja Morant will spend the first 25 games of the season suspended. Maybe an unlikely and high-risk swap between the Blazers and Grizzlies could get everyone to a place where they can move forward.
Trade Details
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: Ja Morant
Memphis Grizzlies Receive: Damian Lillard
The Grizzlies have cultivated a young and winning setup that can’t wait for Morant to get his act together. Given his off-court struggles in Memphis, maybe a change of scenario is what’ll suit the young star the best. In addition to that, Morant would be the single-best player the Blazers could receive in a Lillard trade. With his age, he aligns perfectly with the young timeline the team has inadvertently walked itself into while trying to contend with Lillard.
The Portland Trail Blazers Get A Star Guard To Replace Their Franchise Cornerstone
The Blazers have shown no indication of wanting to completely blow up their roster and start over, wanting to bring over many of their key young pieces from one era into the next. This trade allows them to not only add another young star but a burgeoning on-court sensation. What Lillard has been for incredible shotmaking, Morant is to high-flying and flash ‘Kodak’ moments. Morant, alongside Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, would make Portland arguably the most exciting team in the league to watch.
Morant averaged 26.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 8.1 assists and last season and will spend the first 25 games suspended, allowing Portland a chance to run out their other young guards and see where they stand. At the end of the 25 games, they get an unstoppable young point guard who already has playoff experience under his belt. The low-profile nature of the city would also be a great positive to Ja, who tries to let go of his habits that soured the 22-23 season in Memphis.
The Blazers could virtually continue competing for the playoffs and keep their franchise exceedingly relevant in the post-Dame era. The NBA has been a guard-dominated league for a while, and the combination of guards in Portland are deadly. Along with Jerami Grant signing up for the long term, Portland gets to get value out of his by continuing on their path to contention. They just substitute an aging Dame for a young star who could shepherd them into a new era.
The Memphis Grizzlies Make An Extremely High-Risk Bet
Damian Lillard is a superstar point guard and there are no two ways about it. If anyone still doubts it, they should watch his incredible game tape from last season, where he was trying to single-handedly carry the Blazers to the playoffs. He averaged 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 7.3 assists and was named to an All-NBA team despite the team finishing 13th in the West. His talent has been wasted in Portland, but Memphis is already well set up to facilitate his success.
They have a gritty defensive team that has options on both ends of the ball. Lillard won’t be tasked with having to drop 71 points, given the offensive production of Desmond Bane will complement his style well. Jaren Jackson Jr. can score as a big man and is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. The man who won the trophy the year before, Marcus Smart, was also acquired by Memphis. There is a competitive setup, but it lacks a leader who can also be the No. 1 option. Dame fixes that.
Giving up on the long-term potential of Morant would seem ludicrous, but this brings Memphis’s competitive window up by a lot. They have enough depth on this roster to make this one-to-one swap and hope ‘Dame Time’ doesn’t let them down. If it doesn’t work, it may be looked at as one of the worst trades in modern memory, assuming Morant is successful in Portland.
A Big Swing Can Change A Franchise Completely
The Grizzlies as a franchise have never even made it to the NBA Finals. With the West getting even more top-heavy, the Grizzlies could take a leap of faith and find themselves competing amongst them. The team looked completely out of it while being dominated by the seven-seeded Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. Blaming it on Dillon Brooks isn’t enough, as there was a cloud of negativity hovering over the franchise. Re-tooling and adding Damian Lillard would change the culture of the franchise and give it the best player it has ever had. Lillard is a top-75 all-time talent and can take Memphis to new heights.
The Blazers have no choice but to move on from Lillard. Instead of settling for scraps or future pick packages, they can send Dame to a competitive situation while sealing another star of the future. Morant has a lot of room to grow on-court as well as off the court. The Blazers can easily make additional moves to surround Morant with assets based on how the team and star pair. It keeps the Blazers as a threat in the West with some future upside. They ran out of time with Lillard, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have assets right now that can change the face of the franchise in a few seasons.
This trade will likely not be considered by either team, but it is a compelling one, given the circumstances each player and team is in. Crazier things have happened.
