Portland is talking to everyone but Miami about a Damian Lillard trade and out of that one team has emerged as a serious suitor — the Toronto Raptors.
Buzz about Toronto’s interest in Lillard becoming serious has grown over the past few days, and now the well-connected Marc Stein is the latest to discuss Toronto as a possible Lillard destination in his latest newsletter, and he adds the caveat everyone has with this trade.
The Toronto Raptors have convinced numerous teams around the league that their interest in trading for Lillard is genuine. The uncertainty at this point stems more from gauging Toronto’s true willingness to push all the way forward with its Lillard pursuit when it’s believed that the All-Star guard, behind the scenes, remains so resistant to the idea of becoming a Raptor.
There are a few things that could trip up this trade up, and the most obvious one is that Lillard would not drop his trade request and might even make things ugly if traded there. He would show up to Toronto and play, but the request would still be there and Lillard is rumored to not want to be with the Canadian team. The pressure on the Raptors to deal with it would still be there, and the constant discussion about it — team president Masai Ujiri, coach Darko Rajaković and the Raptors players would be asked about it constantly — could become a huge distraction.
Another question about this trade involves who would be part of the deal on Toronto’s end. The name most commonly mentioned is OG Anunoby, a coveted wing player and one of the best on-ball defenders in the game, but also someone who can be a free agent after this season (he has a $19.9 million player option he is expected to turn down). Portland likely would prefer Scottie Barnes, who is four years younger, has two seasons left on his rookie deal, and is seen by some as having a higher ceiling. Toronto has been unwilling to put Barnes in any trade to this point. Beyond just who would be part of it, this likely would be a multi-team trade and could involve Deandre Ayton going to Portland and Jusuf Nurkic heading to Phoenix, and bigger deals are exponentially harder to put together.
Masai Ujiri and the Raptors front office tend to be cautious (some of the team’s fans would say too cautious). They didn’t trade Kyle Lowry and he bolted to Miami (in a sign-and-trade but all Toronto got back was an older Goran Dragić and Precious Achiuwa). The Raptors didn’t trade Fred VanVleet at the last trade deadline and he signed with Houston this summer. Is a cautious team like the Raptors going to bring in Lillard, knowing he wants to leave?
Is all the talk a leverage play by Portland, hoping Miami will put a better offer forward?
This much we know: Toronto has had talks with Portland and the rest of the league thinks they are serious, but wonders if the the Raptors would really pull the trigger. Still, momentum is building and it feels like a Lillard trade will get done before the Oct. 2 media days for most teams. Where Lillard ultimately lands remains up in the air.
