There's been a ton of talk about the Los Angeles Lakers trying to trade for Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard. It's easy to understand why that idea has Purple & Gold fans drooling. Adding arguably the most clutch player in the league onto a championship team featuring LeBron James and Anthony Davis that's desperately in need of backcourt production? Just give them the trophy already if that happens.

However, the reality of the situation is that the Lakers just don't have enough assets to trade for Damian Lillard. We recently heard about the rumored trade package the Philadelphia 76ers are seeking for Ben Simmons – at the very least, an All-Star caliber player. Even that isn't exactly something LA has within its assets at the moment, unless someone in a rival front office has a major man crush on Kyle Kuzma. There's also a gigantic difference in value between Simmons and Lillard. The fact of the matter is, there's no way the Lakers can muster off a decent enough offer to trade for the superstar without giving up one of their own.

Obviously, trading LeBron and AD has been immediately removed from the table, since that ruins the whole point of trying to acquire Dame in the first place. But if the Blazers ask for Anthony Davis for Damian Lillard virtually straight up, which ESPN's trade machine approves by the way, the Lakers have to at least give it a deep think.

Here are three (3) reasons why:

Why Lakers Must Consider Anthony Davis For Damian Lillard trade

Damian Lillard Lakers LeBron James Blazers trade

#3 – The Misleading Age Gap

One big reason that Lakers fans are vehemently against an Anthony Davis for Damian Lillard trade has to do with the fact that Davis is the future of their franchise. AD is indeed younger than Lillard and is still in the midst of his prime, while Damian Lillard could potentially be on his way out of his. But the fact is, the age difference between the two isn't actually all that glaring.

Damian Lillard will just be a few months removed from turning 31 once the next NBA season rolls around. Anthony Davis meanwhile will be a few months away from turning 29. We're not talking about trading a budding young star here. Dame may be older, but he and AD came from the same 2012 NBA Draft and are both nine-year NBA veterans.

And as we've seen from 36-year-old Chris Paul's amazing playoff run thus far, modern day nutrition has ways of keeping today's athletes at peak performance longer than ever. Lillard's game isn't one that relies on athleticism either. There's no doubt Dame will be just as accurate from 30-feet out when he's 35 years old as he is now. Although he does have more mileage on him in terms of minutes and games played, the only reason Lillard has played in more games than Davis is because of his durability, which brings us to reason two.

#2 – Anthony Davis' Injury Concerns

There's no doubting Anthony Davis' talent whenever he's on the floor. When he's out there playing at a high level, not even Damian Lillard can touch him in terms of dominant two-way impact. But it's his inability to stay healthy that makes him such an infuriating superstar to root for.

This fact isn't groundbreaking by any stretch, given that it's been his label dating back to his early days when the New Orleans Pelicans were still called the Hornets. But it wasn't as big of a deal when he was playing for a low seed. Now that he's playing for titles on the NBA's most glamorous franchise alongside its biggest star in LeBron James, now it becomes a much more glaring issue.

We saw first-hand how AD's health hampered LA's title defense in these past playoffs. Meanwhile on the other side of the Western Conference bracket, we saw Damian Lillard absolutely torch the Denver Nuggets in a losing one-man effort.

Fun fact: Damian Lillard has never missed more than 89% of his team's games during an NBA season. Anthony Davis has only done the same twice out of his nine seasons.

#1 – Damian Lillard Is The Stress-Free Superstar

The fact that there is Damian Lillard trade buzz isn't what should be surprising. It's that it actually took this long for there to be any that is truly shocking. Lillard has been the poster child for franchise loyalty for the past decade. His vocal commitment to the franchise that drafted him wasn't just admirable, it was borderline detrimental to his own success. The man just isn't about drama, and all about hoops.

That's why it's hard to imagine that Dame would have any plans of jumping ship if he gets traded to a new team for the first time in his career. Lillard is locked into his contract up until 2025, and the man didn't even negotiate a player option to opt out of his deal in case something happens.

For as much hope the Lakers fans put on Anthony Davis to carry the torch for the Purple & Gold once LeBron James hangs it up, Damian Lillard could easily be that as well.