Report: The New York Knicks plan to trade for Damian Lillard this off-season.

The New York Knicks are the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and are looking to become contenders next season with the potential addition of Blazer’s All-Star guard, Damian Lillard. 

According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Knicks have serious interest in trading for Damian Lillard this summer if available by Portland. The New York Knicks have enough cap room to absorb Lillard’s contract. With five first-round picks and many young promising players, the Knicks have a solid foundation to formulate a trade strong enough to attract the Portland Trailblazers. While the Knicks have all the pieces to complete a transaction with Portland, how likely is it for Portland to trade with New York?

Chris Haynes, a Yahoo Sports reporter and a close acquaintance to Lillard, believes Portland is a dead end. The Blazers are currently the sixth seed in a tight Western Conference and have yet to make a finals appearance with Damian Lillard. With the many countless failures to build a championship, competent team in the Western Conference, Haynes deciphers that maybe Lillard is fighting on his own. 

“No one has ever questioned the fight in Lillard but, it is fair to ask if he’s been fighting the good fight alone,” writes Chris Haynes.

Lillard’s time in Portland is running out as this team will never make a finals run in the Western Conference. With many terrible contracts like CJ McCollum’s and Portland not being known for attracting All-Star talent, the Blazer’s need to assess whether or not wasting Lillard’s prime is worth it. 

The Portland Trailblazers have attempted to compete for an NBA championship since 2014. While there were many seasons where they had a real chance at making the finals, they were unsuccessful due to Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors dynasty dethroned many hopes and dreams for various organizations. Even though they are no longer an elite team, the Western Conference still has an overwhelming amount of heavy hitters like the Los Angeles Clippers, Lakers, Nuggets, Jazz and the rising Phoenix Suns. Portland has a solid roster this season, but their roster is not enough to compete for the championship this season as they currently sit as the sixth seed while only being a game away from the play-in tournament. The Blazer’s, since 2014, has followed this constant formula of failure. Even though it is not entirely Lillard’s or the organization’s fault, the harsh truth is that this team needs a reset if they want to compete in the future. 

Trading Lillard to the New York Knicks would be a perfect situation for New Yorkers. For almost 30 years, the Knicks have been mediocre as the last time they made the NBA finals was when Patrick Ewing was still in the league! Despite many genuine attempts at constructing a roster competent enough to at least make the conference finals, the Knicks countless times fell short of the expectation. However, the Knicks have been revived due to Julies Randle’s MVP calibre season this year and the inclusion of Tom Thibadeau. The first step for the Knicks was to make the playoffs. The next step now is to win a championship, something the Knicks have not experienced since Walt Frazier. 

The Knicks have many young assets and draft picks to trade, but their advantage to trade for Lillard is their salary cap. The Knicks for years have been saving their cap space in hopes of signing an All-Star calibre player. Unlike Portland, New York is a big market organization and is currently ranked as the most valuable team in the NBA! However, New York failed to bring any talent in the last few seasons due to an incompetent front office. With that aspect being somewhat revived, players will most likely be inclined to consider the New York Knicks as a possible free-agent destination or a team they would want to be traded to. 

Lillard’s patience could be running thin in Portland, and even though he is loyal to the organization, eventually, he would want to win something in his career. The Knicks would be an ideal choice for Lillard as he would be pairing up with one of the best power forwards in the NBA in Julius Randle. Randle would compliment Lillard well as he can shoot, pass and understands exactly where he needs to be on the offensive and defensive sides of the court. New York is currently the fourth seed with just one All-Star; it makes sense why they would want to pair Randle with Lillard as the Knicks could become the first to second-seed in the Eastern Conference. While this fantasy does seem promising, here is what the Knicks could propose in the off-season to make this a reality. 

New York receives- Damian Lillard

Portland receivers- RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley, 2021 Dallas Mavericks first-round pick, 2022 unprotected first-round pick, 2024 unprotected first-round pick, and a 2025 top-five protected first-round pick. 

Portland needs a refresh, and this trade grants them that. They receive three bright young prospects to build around, and an abundance of draft picks to build for the future. As for the New York Knicks, they lose quite a bit of their young core and bright future, but Damian Lillard will make New York a contender and will attract other players in free agency to join the Knicks. New York has the potential to sign a third All-Star calibre player this off-season as most of their cap space would fall under Randle’s and Lillard’s contract.