NBA Trade Rumors: Blazers PG Damian Lillard to Magic for 3 Firsts?
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The Orlando Magic is set to return a good bulk of its core that finished the season playing above .500 basketball.
After a disastrous 5-20 start, Orlando posted a 29-28 mark over its final 57 games and finish the season 34-48.
And with nine of those players from last year's year returning - and the potential for 10 if center Moe Wagner re-signs this offseason - could the Magic look to trade its first round draft picks for a bona fide superstar?
Bleacher Report recently suggested a trade that would send Markelle Fultz, Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Isaac, the No. 6 pick, the No. 11 pick and a 2025 first-round pick (top-three protected) for Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard.
"If that [No. 3] pick doesn't go, Lillard likely does, in this case serving as the fast-forward button for an ascending Magic team that played winning basketball for the campaign's final four months-plus," Bleacher Report writes.
Portland has expressed willingness to trade the No. 3 pick in the draft to surround Lillard with talent to make a deep playoff run. However, due to the lack of postseason success over the past decade, the Trail Blazers could opt to start fresh instead.
"Lillard's bonkers shot-making immediately vaults Orlando into a different stratosphere," Bleacher Report writes. "And if he's available, the Magic have the assets to get him. Whether they'll part with them is a different story."
The NBA Draft takes place Thursday, June 22 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
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