NBA rumors: 5 teams that should call Blazers about Damian Lillard trade

2. Los Angeles Lakers

Realistically, the Los Angeles Lakers are a long shot in any potential Damian Lillard sweepstakes. They basically owe their first-round picks to the New Orleans Pelicans until 2024, and just scrounging up enough contracts to match Dame’s salary would be a challenge. Any offer would almost have to include Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, neither of which is a good-enough starting point for a Lillard trade offer.

However, if the Blazers totally blow it up with a Lillard trade, they wouldn’t necessarily need those first-round draft picks to be right now. That’d probably be preferable, but even if the Lakers had all their picks over the next few years, a team with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Dame would yield first-round selections in the 25-30 range anyway. If the Lakers start offering up unprotected picks for 2026 and beyond, by which point their stars will be old and/or retired, that might pique Portland’s interest.

Creating a super-team in LA would be every Blazers fan’s (and every NBA fan’s) worst nightmare, especially after everything Dame has said about not wanting to join a super-team. But his time for contending is running out quickly, and there’s no question putting him on a team with LeBron and AD would make them the favorites to win it all. It’d ease the burden of everyone involved, and you know the Lakers will be looking to make big changes to their supporting cast after the Phoenix Suns escorted them to the offseason.

Because they’re in a huge market and because they’re the Lakers, you can never count this team out when it comes to superstar trades. It may not seem feasible now, but it wouldn’t be the first time an MVP-caliber player forced his way to LA to compete for championships.