- Kevin O’Connor believes the Celtics can put together an intriguing offer for Damian Lillard
- O’Connor thinks it’d be better than any deal the Heat would come up with
- It was reported Lillard does not want to go to Boston
The Damian Lillard sweepstakes seem to be heating up, and the Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor has put together a trade package with which the Boston Celtics can land the star guard. During the latest episode of the Mismatch podcast, O’Connor explained how the Celtics can acquire Lillard.
“The Celtics can trade up to four first-round picks, two in ’24, one in ’26, one in 2030,” O’Connor said. “They have eight second-round picks they can deal in the future. It’s tough to come up with the money, but they could do it. (Malcolm) Brogdon, Robert Williams, Payton Pritchard, Luke Kornet, Sam Hauser, Jordan Walsh.”
Jordan Walsh was drafted early in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft, and O’Connor says some teams had him as a first-rounder. He believes that makes it like five first-round picks that the Celtics are offering.
“So really like five first-round picks, plus a young guy in Robert Williams,” O’Connor continued. “Maybe you flip him to Phoenix in the Ayton situation. I don’t think the offer is better than what the Raptors could do or what some other teams can do, but I do think it’s better than what the Heat could do and that’s the interesting thing here.”
(starts at 13:28 mark):
While O’Connor thinks it is better than what the Miami Heat can offer, co-host Chris Vernon said that Tyler Herro is better than all of those players. O’Connor stated that Herro isn’t very valuable to a team that has Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe, which is true.
The Portland Trail Blazers have never really been interested in Herro for that reason. Robert Williams III, on the other hand, could be someone they’d want. A defensive-minded center would be perfect to pair with Simons, Sharpe, and Scoot Henderson.
The issue, however, is the injury concerns surrounding Williams and Malcolm Brogdon as well, who was another player that O’Connor mentioned. They are the two best players the Celtics are offering in this instance, and if both can’t stay healthy in the years to come, this would be looked at as a terrible trade for Portland.
As O’Connor also acknowledged, the Toronto Raptors can easily put together a better offer than this, and they were said to be leading the race for Lillard. The Trail Blazers have held firm all this time in the hope of getting a great deal, and they obviously won’t settle for a lesser offer.
Damian Lillard Reportedly Did Not Want To Go To The Celtics
There is one other significant problem surrounding any potential Celtics trade, as well, and that is Lillard not wanting to play for them. NBA insider Chris Haynes is perhaps the media member who is closest to the seven-time All-Star, and he specifically said Lillard does not want to join the Celtics.
Jayson Tatum had even attempted to recruit Lillard to the Celtics but failed, as he only wanted to go to the Heat at that time. Would he be open to it, now that a trade to Miami is looking rather unlikely? It could be. If the goal for the 33-year-old is to win the title, I don’t see a better destination than Boston.
The Celtics With Lillard Would Be The Favorite To Win It All
The Celtics were viewed as title favorites for much of last season but fell short in the end, losing to the Heat in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. One of the big issues was that they struggled to execute in the clutch and didn’t have a reliable ball-handler.
Well, Lillard would certainly help in both aspects. He averaged an impressive 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game last season, and the sight of him and Tatum on the same team would be rather terrifying.
Add Jaylen Brown to the mix, and you get a very formidable Big 3. It seems like a long shot, but if they can pull it off, I think it’d be curtains for everyone else.
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