After securing the third pick in the NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers' eyes aren't on Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller but rather on a trade for a win-now piece alongside Damian Lillard.
“Speculation is already widespread that a package of the third pick and Anfernee Simons might be used to snag an elite small forward,” The Athletic reported Friday.
The news comes off the heels of Lillard saying he doesn't “have much of an appetite for bringing in guys two and three years away from really going after it.”
If you've been following NBA news the last month, the term “elite small forward” in connection with Lillard should register one name: Mikal Bridges. Lillard has not been shy with his praise for Bridges, calling him his “favorite small forward in the league” during a 2021 interview and identifying him as a player he'd like Portland to acquire before last season.
Those comments, along with Lillard's courtside appearance for the Nets' Game 3 vs. Philadelphia at Barclays Center, had the Dame to Brooklyn trade rumors in full swing. However, with Portland landing the third pick and a return of Henderson/Miller and Simons available, those mock trades have flipped with Bridges heading to the Blazers. The Athletic quickly shut those rumors down Friday based on intel at the NBA draft combine:
“I have some terrible news for fans generating fake Mikal Bridges trades: The Nets don’t seem to have much incentive to play ball here,” John Hollinger wrote. “Brooklyn owes unprotected picks to Houston in 2024 and 2026 and unprotected swaps in 2025 and 2027. Thus, Brooklyn trading its good players and tanking would do a lot more for the Rockets than the Nets. Brooklyn’s likely best path forward is to muddle along with a Bridges-centric team, especially since he’s signed through 2026 to one of the league’s best contracts.”
Both the Nets and Blazers find themselves at a crossroads this summer. Portland has a mediocre roster headlined by a 32-year-old Lillard. They say they are committed to building around the All-Star guard, yet they traded away rotation players in Josh Hart and Gary Payton II for future picks and young reclamation projects in Cam Reddish, Matisse Thybulle and Kevin Knox. Lillard also had an interesting response Thursday for fans who seem eager to fetch a return for him on the trade market:
If the fans wana trade me … start the petition and send it in 🤷🏽♂️ https://t.co/zOjGRBh8rD
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) May 18, 2023
Is a trade for a player of Bridges' caliber really going to vault Portland into contender status? It won't be long before we know whether or not general manager Joe Cronin truly believes so.
In Brooklyn's case, the midseason trades of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving left them with a younger, but still veteran roster and a boatload of picks. The new-look squad is headlined by Bridges, Nic Claxton, Cam Johnson and Spencer Dinwiddie with Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O'Neale rounding out the rotation. Bridges and Johnson will be 27 at the start of next season while Dinwiddie, O'Neale and Finney-Smith will be 30, so the Nets don't have the luxury of standing pat.
Do they push their chips in and attempt to find a number one option alongside Bridges? Or do they sell high after breakout years from Bridges and Claxton to reset with young talent and a stockpile of draft picks?
As Hollinger noted, the main deterrent to selling high on Bridges and/or Claxton and recouping value for veterans is Houston owning the Nets' first-round picks. However, starting a new era with Henderson, one of the top guard prospects in the last decade, is unquestionably tempting. Brooklyn could potentially push Portland for Shaedon Sharpe instead of Simons if they smell desperation on Cronin's end. They'd then be able to land more picks for Dinwiddie, Finney-Smith and O'Neale. Is the idea of gifting high picks to Houston enough to walk away from a future headlined by Henderson, Sharpe/Simons, and 14-plus first-round picks?
Hollinger also reported that Houston will be looking for win-now talent with a James Harden reunion on the horizon. Could the Nets dangle Nic Claxton in return for one or more of their picks back to solve the tanking problem, allowing them to hit full reset?
We'll soon know the answers for both franchises. Until then, expect the game of chicken to continue leading up to the draft with Damian Lillard and Mikal Bridges' names at the center.
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