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It's no secret that the Brooklyn Nets are a candidate to go star-hunting this summer. Following the departures of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, general manager Sean Marks left the door wide open for a blockbuster acquisition:
“It goes back to how we build,” Marks said ahead of the offseason. “Do we build quick and expedite this thing? If a player comes around that we know, ‘Hey, this player or players would fit within a group and give us an opportunity to really get back in and be contenders again.’ That could happen.”
Following three-plus years of dysfunction with Durant and Irving, the Nets are looking for the right star to lead their franchise. Damian Lillard has been at the forefront of that conversation. Speculation started when the Blazers guard sat courtside for Game 3 of Nets-Sixers, marking the first time in his career he attended a game as a fan. Lillard fanned the flames of a Brooklyn trade during an appearance on Showtime Sports, calling the Nets an “obvious” destination while citing his close friendship with Mikal Bridges.
League executives have pegged the Nets as one of several teams who could have interest in Lillard should the Blazers make the seven-time All-Star available. With eight tradable first-round picks and a bevy of salary-matching contracts, Brooklyn can build a compelling package for the soon-to-be 33-year-old.
The question remains: will Portland finally move on from its longtime franchise player?
Through all the smoke surrounding a potential trade, Lillard and the Blazers have maintained that the guard will be on the roster come opening night. However, the tea leaves tell another story. Lillard effectively issued an ultimatum to Portland at the end of the regular season, telling Stephen A. Smith that both parties “will have a decision to make” if the team can't build a championship roster around him.
The Blazers' best vehicle for improving a roster that finished with the league's fifth-worst record is trading the 3rd pick in the draft for a proven commodity. Regardless of Lillard's insistence about remaining in Portland, he's made it clear that he has no interest in adding another young piece after his team used the 7th pick in last year's draft on 19-year-old Shaedon Sharpe.
“I’m just not interested in that. That’s not a secret,” he told the Athletic in April. “I want a chance to go for it. ”
Despite his direct comments, several reports indicate that the star piece needed to appease Lillard is not available in a trade for the 3rd pick, in which case Portland would be content to select Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller:
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“I just don’t know that there’s an available player out there available that justifies moving the third pick of the draft. I don’t know that they see it out there right now,” Adrian Wojnarowski said Thursday on the Ryen Russillo Podcast. “Right now, a week out from the draft, I think they’re using that third pick on a player.”
ESPN Draft Analyst Jonathan Givony echoed a similar sentiment:
“Portland will continue to explore trade opportunities until it is on the clock for this pick, but it seems the team will be pleased to select either Miller or Henderson,” Givony wrote Wednesday.
If both reports are accurate, it won't sit well with Lillard. Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes, known to share a close relationship with Lillard off the court, indicated that Portland holding onto the pick would result in “serious conversations” about a change of scenery.
“Based off what he's said, if they keep that pick, whether it's Scoot or anybody else, I think a serious conversation will be had about potentially parting ways,” Haynes said on The Dan Patrick Show.
Lillard's future in Portland remains a question mark. With the draft less than a week away, Portland's decision at number three will dictate the franchise's direction. Until then, the Nets will be one of several teams monitoring the situation with a pool of intriguing assets at their disposal.
