Lakers News: How The Damian Lillard Trade Shakes Up The Pacific Division

With just a few weeks left to go until the new NBA season kicks off, we saw a massive trade go down. All-Star point guard Damian Lillard was finally moved by the Portland Trailblazers and was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team deal.

The third deal in the deal with the Lakers Pacific Division rival, Phoenix Suns. The Suns traded away center Deandre Ayton and received some quality depth in the deal. They got back center Jusaf Nurkic, Nasir Little, Grayson Allen and Keon Johnson to add to their overall roster.

So, with this deal going down, how does it affect things in the Pacific Division?

At first glance, it doesn’t do much to change the division, because the Suns were already going to be a problem for the rest of the league. But when you look deeper, what they did do here was gain more depth pieces to surround their three-headed star lineup of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

Phoenix has the look of a title contender, and they will certainly be in the Lakers way this season. The matchups between these two teams will be must-see TV, and they should produce some strong basketball.

The Suns got better from this trade, so the biggest takeaway here is that they solved their largest problem. This makes them even scarier for the Lakers to deal with.

Now, for the other teams in the division. The Golden State Warriors will be looking to redeem themselves from their second-round exit last season and brought in veteran guard Chris Paul to help.

But the Warriors will have to figure out how to stagger minutes between all of their big-time players, and that could provide a challenge for the coaching staff. And yet, the Warriors will likely be just fine since they still have Steph Curry leading the way. Golden State will be contenders once again, and they will be a difficult matchup for the Lakers if they meet again.

The Los Angeles Clippers are always a threat, but they haven’t been able to stay healthy whatsoever. But if Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are able to put things together this season, they could make some noise.

As always, the Clippers shouldn’t be overlooked and do pose a big threat to the Lakers, especially since they have owned them in recent years.

And finally, we have the surprise team of last year, the Sacramento Kings. The Kings are a young squad who seem on the rise, but nobody knows what to expect from them.

If I had to guess, they would be a good team again, but it also can be tough to put together consecutive winning years. They are no longer surprising anyone, and there are expectations on them now for the first time in a while.

All in all, the entire division is loaded. There won't be any easy games from any of these teams, and we could once again see each team from the Pacific Division reach the postseason.

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