The Latest on Trade Talks Involving Damian Lillard

Will the Portland Trail Blazers trade Damian Lillard to a team other than his preferred destination, the Miami Heat?

It's been over two months since Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard requested a trade, yet he's still a member of the team.

Marc J. Spears appeared on ESPN's NBA Today show and provided the latest on trade talks involving the seven-time All-Star.

"Well, the latest I'm hearing is that the Blazers have been talking to several teams... that also suggests that they could be willing to send him somewhere that's not the Miami Heat, which is certainly very curious," Spears said. 

"It's one thing for a team to trade for a player that doesn't wanna be there, but to get a player that's a top-75 player that, you know, is gonna be professional, but will he really be a happy employee? Do you wanna do that to Dame Lillard? That's the biggest question. Who has the guts to do it as well, like would Boston do it?"

Lillard, 33, was selected with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and has played 11 seasons in the NBA, all as a member of the Trail Blazers franchise. He averaged a career-high 32.2 points per game to go along with 4.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game in 58 appearances with the Trail Blazers during the 2022-23 regular season (all starts).

For the Celtics to acquire Lillard via trade, they would almost certainly have to trade star wing Jaylen Brown, who the team signed to a historically lucrative five-year supermax extension back in July. However, Brown's not eligible to get traded until the end of the 2023-24 campaign, making a deal bringing Lillard to Boston unlikely.

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