Is there a player worth trading Lillard for?

With all of the threads about Lillard's worth, I figured I'd throw a benchmark out there.

Clearly, Lillard will not be traded anytime soon, and he's on the way to being the 2013 Rookie of the Year.

With that said, how do Blazers fans truly value him? Do you under or over value Lillard?

I think that can only really be determined by asking the question... "Who you trade Lillard for?"

Ex: "Love for Lillard?"

 

Our backcourt is our biggest need so it would have to address either PG or SG for me. So unless you are throwing LMA or Hickson in with Lillard on a bigger deal then I have to say no to someone like Love.

I would trade Lillard straight up for the following players: James Harden, Chris Paul (Even with his mileage), and Kyrie Irving (this is really a good comp for Lillard and don't fault people if they would rather just keep Lillard).

Trying to keep this "somewhat" realistic so no Durant, LeBron, etc.

Beyond that I think these players would be fair trade but not interested in them for one reason or another: Westbrook, Rondo, Curry, and Holiday.

So small list really.

 

I'm throwing out this question to assess Lillard's trade value amongst the Blazers faithful, not to ask what Lillard trades would benefit the roster.

Also, why do you separate Chris Paul and Kevin Durant? You say Paul has mileage, but given Durant's frame, he's had more mileage than Paul. He's one 'tragic injury' away from being a footnote. At the end of the day, both Durant and Paul are amongst the league's best, but I don't consider one more fragile than the other.


....

My question to the Blazers faithful is: Regardless of position, what NBA players would you accept in return for Damian Lillard?

No packages... no draft picks... What value do you currently put on your own superstar? That's what I'm trying to ascertain.

 

LeBron
Durant
CP3

 

Lillard is at the stage where you won't be able to get equal value for him. Obviously you'd trade him for a LeBron or a Durant, but that's not realistic. He's too good to trade for draft picks and there simply aren't very many young guys who are as good as him, but also as young as him. I can't think of any names right now.

 

Going roster to roster these are the guys with a combo of talent/age/health I would take for Lillard without second thought: Melo, Rondo, Irving, Bron, Durant, Paul, Harden, Anthony Davis.

There's another range of guys like Griffin, Westbrook, Howard, Rose, Curry who's talent level is there but who's health or game would put me off of making the deal.

 

I don't think he's looking for 'realistic', more hypothetical value.

 

Yeah, but he's wanting to know if we're crazy enough to think that he's worth LeBron, or dumb enough to think we should trade him for Jeremy Lin or something like that. The truth is, it's too early to tell what he's worth. We should know more by the end of the year, and even more in the next couple years. He could be one of the best point guards in the league, or he could be a Mo Williams. I guess we'll just have to wait and find out.

 

I didn't take it as 'crazy enough to think he's worth Lebron' so much as crazy enough not to say yes to a straight deal of Dame for Lebron.

I agree about waiting and seeing tho, he's had some encouraging games but overall in Dec his shooting was a bit poor, but his playmaking was better overall and turnovers were down slightly. Definitely need more games but if he can combine the good aspects of both months I know I'll be pleased with his year.

 

I wouldn't trade Lillard.

 

You wouldn't?

 

the obvious ones like lebron/durant/paul aside, certinaly kyrie or anthony davis in a heartbeat. westbrook if we're not considering where they are in pay scale. blake griffin. ibaka.

LMA if he were on another team.

 

LeBron.
Kyrie Irving.
Westbrook (maybe)

I know you said no packages, but John Wall is someone I'd borderline do straight up for Lillard, but not quite. And I'd love to fleece you guys of Marc and Mike

John Wall/Brad Beal
Marc Gasol/Mike Conley


I'd say no to KD, CP3, Griffin, Ibaka, Anthony Davis, Rose, Curry, Melo, Rondo.

KD - Great scorer, poor defender, isn't the best playmaker. We already have Batum. Yeah, we could move Batum to SG. Then We'd be starting Ronnie Price, Batum, Durant, Hickson, LMA. Just not very attractive to me. Very little defense, Batum/Durant/LMA all need the ball to be effective and Hickson would be lost in the shuffle.

CP3 - Only 27/28 but his body is about the same as Kobe. We would get maybe 3-4 good years out of him and this team just isn't ready to make a complete run. Although it would make for a nice lineup, I'd rather invest in the long term. Love his game to death, just think his body is about 33 years old, not 27. Don't want another BRoy situation.

Griffin - Already have LMA. No thanks.

Ibaka - See Griffin.

Melo - See Durant, Kevin.

Davis - Intriguing, but it's hard to judge either players worth at this point. It's like LBJ/Melo rookie year, would you trade them for each other? Probably not. I know you're supposed to go with the 'big', but I prefer keeping the PG we've searched the last 5+ years for. The transition of the NBA is making the big look more expendable (as the league is now guard driven). A developed AD next to LMA would be nice, but I'm not going to give up our biggest piece for someone who is just going to block shots for us for the next couple years. Body, scoring just not where it needs to be for me to want him - and I'm not as sold as others on him being the next "great" thing.

Rose - Injuries. No. Very, very explosive. Bad jumpshot though. Not what this team needs. The way he plays is going to lead him into a shorter career because his body will start to crumble and he isn't the craftiest player.

Curry - Injuries. Solid player otherwise. Not looking to have my heart ripped out, again, ala Roy/Oden.

Rondo - Can't shoot. Actually like Rondo more than Rose, doesn't rely on athleticism, just a great BBIQ and amazing court vision, but he does benefit from playing with Pierce/KG and he is kind of an "odd" character (poor teammate at times).

 

Talk about inflated value. Love Dame and his game, but right now, he's borderline top 10 (his FG% isn't showing many signs of improvement) at his position. I'm slowly changing my comparison from a more athletic Curry to a taller Mo Williams. And there are some glaring deficiencies to his game. I have doubts whether he can improve them given his age. Unless his efficiency improves (better a:to, FG%, PER, etc), some of these are laughable.

Maybe on Westbrook? Come on now.

 

And no to Durant? Is this a joke?

 

i can see making that argument for griffin, but on the contrary i would love to team ibaka and LMA. they are very different i think would be highly complimentary players.

lillard's offense would be much more easily replaced than ibaka's defense.

 

Disagree. We've spent 5+ years looking for an offensive PG that doesn't slow down our offense. Lillard = Potential all star. Ibaka = Great role player (along side Aldridge, at least). Lillard has more value to this team than Ibaka would. If we couple Ibaka with LMA, we wouldn't ask for scoring from him, just strong defense and rebounding.

Also, Ronnie Price as our starting PG = Not ideal. Price/Batum/Claver/Ibaka/LMA look better than Lillard/Batum/Claver/Hickson/LMA? Not IMO.

 

Bad jumper, relies on athleticism, has a poor attitude on occasion, wouldn't be alongside another great scorer in KD. I meant to take away the maybe on him, though.

 

Nope. Dead serious.

Not big into replicating our core, given that there is no "package" deals, which I'd then use Batum to flip into a PG - but barring no other changes, Lillard for Durant I would not do.

Side note: Lillard could be a taller Mo Williams, or he could be the next Chris Paul. Either way, we don't know. He could be the next "elite" PG. You don't know, I don't know.