Trade speculation surrounding Damian Lillard continues and the Knicks are waiting for an opportunity to trade for the All-Star. New York has been monitoring the situation for quite some time and ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears that the Knicks are the point guard’s No. 1 choice should he leave the Blazers.
Stephen A Smith: "If [Damian Lillard] were to get traded from Portland, New York Knicks would be his number one destination."
Also mentions Lillard’s ability to recruit players like Tatum and Embiid to a big market like New York
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 1, 2021
Interestingly, Joel Embiid’s name get dragged into the rumor mill here. As the Sixers search for a Ben Simmons deal, there have been no rumblings that the team would consider trading their All-Star big man instead, leaving Lillard to presumably have the option to play alongside Embiid if he wanted to make Philadelphia his top preferred choice.
“I think that’s the stage we’re at as a team where we all, not just me, not just my teammates, not just our new coaching staff, the front office, everybody in this organization must look in the mirror because we’ve constantly come up short,’’ Lillard told FortyEightMinutes and other media via zoom late last month. “We have to look in the mirror and say, ‘I have to be better’ because whatever it is we’re doing is not working and it’s not giving us the shot to compete on the level that we want to compete on.”
Lillard has since denied trade rumors surrounding his name without affirming that he wants to remain with Portland long-term.
It was previously reported that the franchise would be open to dealing as many as three first-round picks in a deal for Lillard. It was previously reported that the Knicks would offer RJ Barrett in such a deal, though no word on whether they’d combine Barrett with that kind of draft haul.
