As the NBA Finals rage on, the Portland Trail Blazers are contemplating ways to bring success to their team next season.
After trading away CJ McCollum, Norman Powell, and Robert Covington, the Blazers essentially reset the roster and wiped the slate clean to build around Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic.
But now, there are rumors that Dame has his eyes on a different star big man: Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns. The 6’11” rim protector would make an ideal pairing next to Lillard, and contract negotiations with Phoenix have fallen apart.
Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer dropped the latest update on the ‘Dunc’d On Basketball podcast.
“He wants the max, he doesn’t want to come down from that. So that’s the case, if one team offers him the max, which I think seems pretty possible… Detroit gets mentioned a lot. Like Portland, it seems like he’s another guy that Dame has interest in playing with. Toronto gets mentioned, San Antonio has been mentioned.”
Damian Lillard hasn’t been hiding his feelings about Ayton. Back in May, he liked a Tweet urging the young big man to join forces with him in Portland. But what would it mean for Lillard, and the Blazers franchise, if Ayton joins the roster?
Despite being benched in Phoenix’s elimination loss, he played well for most of the season, averaging 17.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per game on 63% shooting. He was thought to be a core member of the Suns until a few months ago when the front office decided he wasn’t worth a max contract.
Now, his future is up in the air and his services could be had for the right price. If the Blazers chose him over Nurkic, it could help make Portland a dominant force in the West. Either way, GM Joe Cronin has his work cut out for him this summer.
