The Portland Trail Blazers has been making headlines this week after a report surfaced claiming Damian Lillard was interested in joining forces with disgruntled Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons.
Even after Dame shut down those rumors, they keep coming. Following Neil Olshey’s firing from the team, many people are wondering what is going to happen next with this squad, who has underperformed this campaign, even earning big criticism from new head coach Chauncey Billups.
Following the report about Lillard wanting to play with Simmons, another one adds more candidates to land in Portland. According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown and Denver Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon have been players of interest for Dame, too.
Swapping McCollum for Ben Simmons has been a popular idea among league figures. Simmons was one of several defensively minded wing players who Lillard has expressed interest in playing with since the 2020 offseason, along with Jaylen Brown and Aaron Gordon, sources said. Olshey did have conversations with the Magic for Gordon, but a deal never came to fruition. Portland instead traded two first-round picks for Robert Covington ahead of the 2020-21 season.
This preseason’s trade talks between Portland and Philadelphia never advanced beyond early framework discussions, sources told B/R. Olshey believed the Blazers were constructed well enough to compete in the Western Conference and had little interest in parting ways with McCollum, the No. 10 selection Olshey handpicked during the 2013 draft and seemed to view as equally important to Portland’s eight straight postseason appearances as Lillard.
Fans need to pick these reports with a pinch of salt since Dame doesn’t hesitate to deny them and speak his truth. It happened yesterday with the Simmons’ story and it could happen again with these two candidates.
Brown and Gordon would be very good additions to the Blazers, especially Brown, who is one of the most promising young players in the league. The All-Star point guard has made it clear he wants to win, but his heart belongs to Portland. Maybe with Neil Olshey’s departure, new doors will open for them, but we have to wait and see if the Blazers surprise everybody and get Dame the right help to compete in the West.
