Damian Lillard's Idea To Rebuild The Blazers Is Simple, Just Bring Him Zion Williamson
Michael Reaves. Getty Images.We're just days away from entering the worst best part of the NBA calendar. As soon as we get to the Draft and then free agency which comes about a week later, our timelines are going to be filled with tweets that start with "SOURCE" or "REPORT" telling us about something that is in no way actually about to happen. Clips from TV shows and podcasts will be clipped and aggregated, and often taken out of context. There's no stopping it really, the best thing to do is to simply embrace the chaos.
That means it's also time to take things up a few levels and look into the social media activity of basically every NBA player. Tweets, emojis, and even likes can tell us a whole lot more than what the NBA insiders give us. That's mostly just all agent posturing anyways. Now is the time to go directly to the source and start coming up with baseless rumors that way. It's way more fun than just sitting around and waiting for Woj/Shams to tell us something actually happened, and with the Draft on Thursday, things are only going to heat up.
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Enter Damian Lillard.
Is he staying? Is he going? Who the hell knows. The entire thing is so exhausting and I'm not even a Blazers fan. One minute we have another "report" about how Dame once again refuses to leave Portland, but then on that same day, we get a separate "report" that this could be the summer he's finally traded.
Do the Blazers keep their #3 pick and draft a high level prospect, or do they move that pick and some other assets for a win now player who can help the Blazers…contend? Is there really any trade out there that you feel would vault the Blazers into that top 2-3 spot in the West? I guess you have to try if the plan is to in fact not trade Dame, and thank to Twitter we now know what he wants the Blazers to do.
Yesterday, Bill Simmons threw out this idea that he was told Zion wouldn't be on the Pelicans by Thursday. That's a pretty scorching piece of information, and as most things do in 2023, that was aggregated and put on our timelines
As you can expect, Dame was thrown into the convo
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As someone who is very online, it's no surprise that Dame saw that tweet. What came next might just tell us what is about to happen
Now, is Dame liking this tweet because he agrees with the idea that the Blazers should package #3 and other assets to being in Zion? I can certainly see why the idea makes sense. He's an unreal talent at a position of need who is both young enough to fit a post Dame timeline but also good enough to make an impact right away if he's able to actually get on the court.
Or….did Dame like this post because this is what is actually going to happen and this lines up with what Simmons was talking about?
I could believe both of those scenarios and you could also tell me this is all a whole lot of nothing and I'd probably believe you too. That's the beauty of this time of year on the NBA calendar. Things sound crazy, but we've learned over the last few years that nothing can be ruled out when it comes to this stuff. Trades we don't see coming actually happen. Other moves that you feel like would never happen in a million years actually happen.
Is it totally out of the realm of possibility that the Pelicans want to finally get out of the Zion business? I don't think so. Given his injury issues and now everything happening off the court, maybe now is the time to reset. Is it crazy to suggest that the Blazers offer might be the best possible return for a player like Zion right now? Players always seem to get traded for less than fans think they're actually worth, so I don't think it's so far out in left field that you can completely rule it out.
Usually when there's smoke around this stuff there's usually fire, which I can't lie has me very excited for the next few days. Lord knows this isn't the first Zion rumor we're going to get over the next 48 hours, and I welcome the chaos. Let's get nuts and throw everything against the wall only to be disappointed on Thursday when none of it happens, as is tradition.