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Latest On Celtics-Trail Blazers Trade

October 1st, 2023 at 7:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Malcolm Brogdon preferred a fresh start after the Celtics nearly dealt him to the Clippers this summer, The Athletic’s quartet of Shams Charania, Jared Weiss, Jared King and Jason Quick report. However, he did not want to be camp holdout, according to Weiss.

A three-way deal involving Kristaps Porzingis fell through due to concerns regarding Brogdon’s injured elbow. Porzingis, of course, was eventually acquired by Boston in a restructured deal with Marcus Smart serving as the primary outgoing piece.

Brogdown was dealt to the Trail Blazers on Sunday along with Robert Williams and two first-rounders for Jrue Holiday.

Boston didn’t want to part with Williams, but he needed to be included to convince Portland to make the trade, per The Athletic’s report.

We have more on the big deal:

Brogdon believed after meeting with the team’s brass earlier this year that he was part of the franchise’s long-term plans, according to Weiss. He was blindsided when he learned the team attempted to include him in a Porzingis blockbuster. Brogdon was also frustrated by rumors he would undergo elbow surgery. He planned to rehab the elbow, as the other areas of concern in his lower body felt relatively fine.
Brogdon was also upset when coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters that Derrick White would be the starting point guard during a press conference announcing Jaylen Brown’s contract extension in July, Weiss adds. Brogdon only communicated with top executive Brad Stevens during the offseason and the veteran guard eventually decided he was willing to rejoin the team but still preferred to be dealt.
The Trail Blazers were initially seeking a haul for Holiday that included four or five future first-round picks, but that demand eventually softened, according to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. Holiday can opt out of his contract after the season, but Himmelsbach hears that both sides view his arrival as the start of a long-term partnership.
The Warriors were never a part of trade discussions involving Holiday, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. They are comfortable with their guard rotation entering camp. Golden State’s 2024 first-rounder, which was included in the deal, has now been traded three times. Memphis originally traded for the pick, then dealt it to Boston. It’s now the property of the Trail Blazers.

Trail Blazers Sign Skylar Mays To Two-Way Deal

October 1st, 2023 at 5:49pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

7:49pm: The move is official, the Blazers announced in a press release.

3:45pm: The Trail Blazers are bringing back free agent combo guard Skylar Mays on a two-way deal, his agent Mark Bartelstein informs Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report tweets that Mays has been working out at Portland’s practice facility throughout the offseason.

The 6’4″ vet appeared in just six contests with the Trail Blazers in 2022/23 after inking a 10-day deal. He put up big numbers in those games, averaging 15.3 PPG on excellent .500/.462/.923 shooting splits, while also chipping in 8.3 APG, 3.2 RPG and 1.0 SPG.

Mays was drafted with the No. 50 pick by the Hawks in 2020 out of LSU, but failed to carve out a major rotation role during his two seasons in Atlanta. He split most of the 2022/23 season between the Sixers’ NBAGL affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, and the Capitanes de Ciudad de México, before latching on in Portland.

Celtics Land Jrue Holiday In Trade Involving Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon

October 1st, 2023 at 3:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

3:33pm: The Celtics have officially announced the acquisition of Holiday in a press statement.

11:02am: The Celtics will acquire Jrue Holiday from the Trail Blazers in exchange for Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon and draft assets, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The draft picks are Golden State’s first-rounder in 2024 and Boston’s unprotected first-rounder in 2029, sources tell Wojnarowski. The Warriors’ pick is top-four protected.

The Celtics were among Holiday’s preferred destinations after he was sent from Milwaukee to Portland in the Damian Lillard deal, Woj adds. He notes that Boston had to make a significant offer to beat out several teams that were pursuing the 33-year-old guard.

Holiday will make roughly $35MM this season and holds a $37.4MM player option for 2024/25. The Celtics are believed to want to work a long-term deal, and he will become eligible for an extension during the second half of the season, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.

Marks also points out that the trade with Portland wouldn’t be permitted next year because Boston will be above the second apron. He notes that teams in that position have an incentive to maximize their assets before the strictest provisions in the new CBA take effect.

The addition of Holiday provides the Celtics with an emphatic answer to the Bucks’ acquisition of Lillard on Wednesday. Those two trades position Boston and Milwaukee as the clear favorites for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Holiday will help replace the tough defensive presence the Celtics lost when they traded Marcus Smart to Memphis. He can share ball-handling duties with Derrick White and won’t have to be a full-time point guard like he was with the Bucks.

Boston has a hole to fill with the loss of Williams, but the team holds a $6.2MM trade exception that it could use in its search for a replacement, points out Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link). If the Celtics can’t find a big man they like, they could use they exception on another player and try to use him in a trade for a center in two months.

After facing a limited market for Lillard throughout the summer, the Trail Blazers have radically reshaped their roster with a pair of deals. In addition to Brogdon and Williams, Portland also acquired Deandre Ayton and Toumani Camara, along with three total first-rounders and a pair of pick swaps with Milwaukee.

Brogdon has two years left on his contract at $22.5MM each season, while Williams will make $11.6MM and $12.4MM over the next two years. Portland plans to hold onto Williams and pair him with Ayton in the frontcourt, Wojnarowski tweets. He adds that teams have expressed interest in Brogdon throughout the summer, and he seems to be a logical trade candidate with the Blazers committed to their young guards.

The Clippers, who nearly traded for Brogdon when the Celtics acquired Kristaps Porzingis, are an obvious choice to pursue him now, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Greif also hears that the competition for Holiday came down to L.A. and Boston.

More Details On The Three-Team Lillard Blockbuster

September 30th, 2023 at 1:47pm CST by Rory Maher

The Bucks were interested in acquiring Damian Lillard immediately after he made his trade request on July 1, but the deal didn’t start to come together until this past Sunday.

As Adrian Wojnarowski writes in an in-depth story for ESPN (Insider link), Bucks general manager Jon Horst told Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin from the outset that their talks had to remain a secret or Milwaukee would withdraw from negotiations.

According to Wojnarowski, Horst didn’t want Jrue Holiday to be involved in any trade rumors, or used as leverage by Cronin with other teams to increase offers for Lillard. The Bucks didn’t want to disrupt their chemistry and hold Holiday in very high regard. That meant Cronin was unable to gauge Holiday’s market value before agreeing to the trade.

As Wojnarowski details, Horst told Cronin that the only way a deal would work is if the Blazers took their time fielding offers and eventually circled back to Milwaukee for one-on-one talks. That started Sunday evening, with both sides feeling like they had reached a breakthrough.

Cronin was determined to say patient and accept the best possible offer, per Woj, and kept details of Lillard negotiations hidden from prying eyes. Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, was determined to steer him to Miami, but Lillard didn’t have much leverage. Wojnarowski strongly suggests Cronin felt the need to keep things private from Goodwin in case he tried to tank trade talks with non-Heat teams.

One of the most fascinating and “delicate” parts of the deal was Phoenix’s involvement. According to Wojnarowski, the Blazers and Suns had the outline of a trade together for months — Deandre Ayton to Portland for Jusuf Nurkic. Cronin wanted to tie that agreement into any Lillard trade, so throughout the offseason he kept circling back to the Suns.

However, as Wojnarowski writes, due to Milwaukee’s insistence on secrecy, Cronin was unable to tell Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein the final details until the last minute. According to Woj, Phoenix knew it was getting Nurkic, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson from the Blazers in a three-team deal, but the Suns wanted another asset in return.

Cronin was unable to tell the Suns who that player was — or who he played for. Cronin did tell the Suns the mystery player’s position and gave an approximation of his salary, and Phoenix was able to deduce it was either Thunder guard Victor Oladipo or Bucks guard Grayson Allen.

Only on Wednesday afternoon — just before the trade was made public — did Cronin confirm that it was Allen, whom the Suns had reportedly been interested in for several months. According to Wojnarowski, Bartelstein, GM James Jones and owner Mat Ishbia quickly discussed and then agreed to the deal.

The Blazers were happy and relieved to have completed the deal, per Woj, and believed they did right by Lillard by sending him to a contender, even if it wasn’t his preferred destination. Shortly thereafter, Cronin was bombarded by calls inquiring about Holiday, who is now the hottest name on the trade block.

Wojnarowki’s full story is definitely worth reading in full if you subscribe to ESPN+.

Jrue Holiday Notes: Clippers, Sixers, Kings, Pacers, Knicks

September 30th, 2023 at 9:46am CST by Tristan Tucker

After being sent to the Trail Blazers as part of the Damian Lillard blockbuster, Jrue Holiday is likely the next guard to be traded by a Portland team seeking draft capital and/or players who fit the club’s timeline. The Blazers are expected to be active in the next few days in attempting to find a landing spot for the two-time All-Star and there’s a “good chance” he’s on the move by Monday, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

The market for Holiday, a tenacious defender, is already robust. As we wrote on Thursday, the Clippers, Heat, Bulls, Celtics, Knicks, Pacers, and Sixers are among the teams that could explore acquiring him.

Sam Vecenie of The Athletic looks at several hypothetical landing spots for Holiday and considers what the trade package might look like in each scenario. In his view, the Clippers are the most viable destination for Holiday, with an easy-to-build package consisting of matching salaries, young players and draft picks. While the Clippers have been tied to Sixers guard James Harden for some time, Vecenie reasons that Holiday could be more appealing, since he’s extension-eligible while Harden is not, due to his two-year deal last offseason.

Of course, the rumors linking Harden and the Clippers make a three-team deal that sends Harden to L.A, Holiday to Philadelphia, and salaries, picks and other assets to Portland easy to imagine, Vecenie writes. However, Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports says that he’s hearing no real traction on any such move and that it will be difficult for Philadelphia to land Holiday.

The Heat, Knicks and Warriors are among other teams who can put together reasonable packages for Holiday, Vecenie writes, with Golden State providing his favorite potential landing spot for the guard.

We have more Jrue Holiday-related notes:

The Kings are one of the few teams who will not be in on the Holiday sweepstakes, tweets Sam Amick of The Athletic. According to Amick, the Kings “looked at” the possibility, but will not pursue the guard. While Holiday makes sense for just about every team in the league, it stands to reason that the Kings, who seem to have a set backcourt rotation, wouldn’t want to shake things up this close to the season.
Indiana is a dark horse candidate to trade for Holiday. IndyStar’s Dustin Dopirak explores the subject, weighing the pros and cons of the Pacers acquiring Holiday. While adding the former All-Star would give Indiana a secondary ball-handler and shooting, along with high-level defense, it might not be the best idea for the team to sacrifice draft capital and/or young players at this stage of its timeline. With Holiday potentially becoming a free agent next offseason, it’s also possible he would be a rental and, if not, he would be costly at 33 years old, Dopirak writes. Ultimately, Dopirak believes the Pacers shouldn’t get desperate to acquire Holiday, even if he would boost their playoff odds this season.
As noted above, New York makes some level of sense as a suitor for Holiday’s services. Fred Katz and Mike Vorkunov write about the topic, arguing that while Holiday would help in a major way on the court, the cost to acquire him would be great. Ian Begley of SNY writes that if the Knicks did acquire Holiday, they’d do so with the idea of extending him.

Warriors Notes: Holiday, Roster, Jackson-Davis, Looney, More

September 29th, 2023 at 9:10pm CST by Rory Maher

There are logical reasons why the Warriors should pursue Jrue Holiday, who was traded to the Trail Blazers in the Damian Lillard blockbuster.

As Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area writes, Holiday — a two-time All-Star and five-time All-Defense member — is one of the best two-way guards in the league. He’s also five years younger (33) than Chris Paul (38), who would almost certainly be included in a potential deal for salary-matching purposes.

However, according to Poole, the possibility of trading Paul so soon after acquiring him creates a dilemma for Golden State. The team has spent the past few months talking up how well the future Hall-of-Famer will fit in, and how he was the “missing piece.” Flipping him before he plays a game for the Warriors would likely have future free agents questioning the organization’s integrity, Poole writes.

Poole believes Holiday would improve the roster, and is “probably a more seamless fit into the team’s culture.” But trading Paul now would still carry a level of risk.

Here’s more on the Warriors:

Kendra Andrews of ESPN examines key storylines for the Warriors entering the 2023/24 season, including how the team will fill its final standard roster spots. After the chemistry issues of last season, Golden State is looking for a “glue guy” who will be a good locker-room presence, team sources tell Andrews.
Rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis could be a seamless fit for Golden State’s system, according to Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. The 6’9″ big man has plenty of experience, having played four highly productive college seasons at Indiana. Head coach Steve Kerr sounded impressed with the second round-pick on Monday, Johnson notes. “What I like about Trayce is he plays the way we like to play — good passer, dribble handoff guy at the top of the key, good screener, gives us a lob threat that we don’t otherwise have, which is a really nice addition,” Kerr said. “And I think he’s just the kind of guy who feels the game well. He’s got a good feel for passing, cutting movement. And a lot of the stuff that we already run he runs really well. So Trayce is a really intriguing prospect and will be fun to watch him play.”
In a lengthy interview with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, center Kevon Looney talked about his rebounding prowess, his desire to keep his consecutive games streak alive (he hasn’t missed a game the past two seasons), how long he hopes to play, adjusting to new teammates, and more.
The Warriors are close to hosting the 2025 All-Star game, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The news isn’t official yet, but it’s heading in that direction. As Charania notes, 2024 All-Star weekend will be held in Indianapolis.

Details On Damian Lillard’s “Messy” Exit From Portland

September 28th, 2023 at 10:29pm CST by Rory Maher

Multiple reporters have cited sources who said the Trail Blazers hadn’t discussed a Damian Lillard trade with the Heat — Lillard’s preferred landing spot — since July.

According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, the last dialogue the two sides had was a phone call at Summer League between Blazers GM Joe Cronin and Heat GM Andy Elisburg. Miami wanted to set up an in-person meeting in Las Vegas to have further discussions, but it never transpired, per Haynes.

“How this summer played out behind the scenes definitely left a sour taste in my mouth,” Lillard told Haynes. “But it doesn’t change the amazing experiences I’ve had with the Trail Blazers and this city. I’ll always cherish this place. This is my home. I’ll always live here regardless.”

The situation became acrimonious almost immediately, as the Blazers felt Lillard’s trade request had put them at a negotiating disadvantage, while Miami believed Portland was acting out of emotion instead of understanding the league is a business, Haynes writes.

Following a lengthy period of inactivity, Aaron Goodwin, Lillard’s agent, suggested that Cronin meet with Lillard in the event that the longtime star returned to the team.

As Haynes details, at the meeting on September 5, Lillard expressed his disappointment with the situation and wondered why there hadn’t been any communication between Portland and Miami. He didn’t want to be traded anywhere else and noted that he’d been willing to sacrifice for the team.

Specifically, Haynes cites sources who say the Blazers asked Lillard to sit out the final 10 games of last season to boost Portland’s lottery odds. Lillard was told a top pick would improve the front office’s chances of trading it for a win-now veteran. Lillard reluctantly agreed, with the team citing a “calf injury.” Portland ultimately kept the pick and selected Scoot Henderson No. 3 overall.

According to Haynes, Cronin told Lillard at the September 5 meeting that he planned to extract every possible asset from the Heat if he had to deal with them. Realizing that was unrealistic, Lillard responded by saying if he couldn’t land in Miami, he’d prefer to rescind his trade request and return to Portland.

Cronin told Lillard he couldn’t come back, which “shocked” the 33-year-old, sources tell Haynes. Lillard was “discouraged” that he couldn’t return to the Blazers, but he also didn’t want to be somewhere he wasn’t wanted, so he ended the meeting.

Shortly thereafter, the Blazers — who were frustrated with their offers at that point — refused to communicate with Lillard and Goodwin for almost three weeks. Portland didn’t want Goodwin meddling in trade talks, which is how the team rationalized the decision, per Haynes.

With Cronin refusing to talk, Goodwin came up with a contingency plan, letting both Milwaukee and Brooklyn know Lillard would be interested in joining those two teams. Haynes is now the third to report that information regarding the Bucks and Nets.

The NBA actually got involved on September 23 because of the contentious communication breakdown, Haynes writes. Cronin agreed to have dialogue with Goodwin at that point, and a few days later Lillard was traded to the Bucks.

Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo admitted he has mixed emotions about the trade, he told Haynes.

“It’s a bittersweet day for the city of Milwaukee,” Antetkounmpo said. “You get Dame, who is a great player, but you lose a great guy. Jrue (Holiday) took us to the promised land. I’m 10 years in now. I know it’s a business. At the end of the day, Jrue will alway be be my brother for life. He’s one of the best human beings I’ve been around. But we’ve got to focus on the goal to win the championship. Dame wants this. He’s hungry to win, and he’s going to push us. I’m very happy to have him on our team.”

Haynes’ story for Bleacher Report has more details and quotes and is worth reading in full.

Here are some more notes related to the three-team blockbuster:

In a series of Twitter posts, Lillard sent a heartfelt thank you and goodbye to Blazers fans, teammates, coaches, employees, the media, and more. In conclusion, he wrote, “As this chapter of my life ends, I look back and realize how special it was. Even in this moment I feel sad that we never accomplished what I so badly wanted to. I don’t cry much, but I know my love for you is real because I am for sure dropping some tears right now. Rip City you know my heart and where I stand because I’ve stood there for over a decade so to have to move off my square hurts my heart. … I do believe a day will come where I put on a Blazers uniform on again, and hopefully by then I’ll be forgiven for breaking your hearts along with my own.”
Center Deandre Ayton, who was sent to Portland in the deal, also sent a thank you message to the Suns (via Twitter).
Only Lillard and Holiday will be required to report and pass physicals as part of the deal, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter links), who adds that Holiday can’t be traded until both players pass their physicals. The Blazers owe the Bulls a top-14 protected first-rounder through 2028, and if it conveys that summer, Portland’s ’28 first-round pick swap with Milwaukee will be voided, Marks reports.
The Blazers generated an $8.8MM traded player exception in the deal, while the Suns got a $1.1MM TPE, per Marks.
In another tweet, Marks notes that Holiday can’t be aggregated with other salaries for two months, though he can be traded on his own (or with one or more players if his salary isn’t aggregated with theirs).
While multiple reports have now said Goodwin reached out to Brooklyn, NetsDaily.com hears the Nets were never interested and only discussed Lillard with Portland one time, in July. The Nets simply didn’t believe Lillard could turn them into a contender and were wary of his age and long-term contract, per NetsDaily.
Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype explores what’s next following the deal, while Sam Vecenie of The Athletic evaluates the trade for the Bucks, Blazers and Suns.

Jrue Holiday Rumors: Heat, Pacers, Knicks, Celtics, More

September 28th, 2023 at 7:29pm CST by Rory Maher

The Lakers, Clippers, Heat, Celtics, Bulls and Sixers are among the teams Jrue Holiday would be interested in joining, a league source tells Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

That said, unless the Trail Blazers are willing to hold onto Holiday for at least a few months, you can scratch the Lakers from the list of possible suitors. They obviously aren’t trading LeBron James for Holiday, and the other players they could theoretically use to match salaries aren’t trade-eligible until December or January.

The Blazers are expected to prioritize young players and draft assets in exchange for Holiday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Today (YouTube link).

Holiday is expected to draw interest from a variety of teams, sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Insider link). The Heat could be among that group, but Portland “had no major interest in any individual Miami player or draft asset, and limited interest in whatever combination Miami might cobble” during negotiations for Damian Lillard, Lowe reports.

According to Chiang and Jackson, the Heat haven’t ruled out making an aggressive push for Holiday, but they didn’t do it immediately on Thursday. Miami isn’t expected to pursue James Harden, and has yet to express interest in Pacers sharpshooter Buddy Hield, who is reportedly on the trading block after failing to reach an extension, a source tells Chiang and Jackson. Free agent guard Goran Dragic is interested in returning to the Heat, but that interest doesn’t appear to be mutual, per The Herald’s duo.

Sources tell Lowe the Pacers and Knicks are expected to have a level of interest in Holiday, though it’s unclear how seriously they’ll pursue the defensive stalwart. While Lowe believes Holiday could be a good fit with both clubs, he wonders if Indiana will decide it’s too early to make a win-now move.

Boston was previously cited as a possible suitor, but multiple sources tell Brian Robb of MassLive that the Celtics will likely be outbid and aren’t expected to land Holiday. Still, the team has long been interested in the veteran guard — Boston tried to acquire Holiday a few years ago before he was traded to Milwaukee, a source tells Robb.

Here are a few more notes related to Holiday, who was sent to the Blazers from the Bucks as part of yesterday’s Lillard blockbuster:

Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t have a direct impact on the Lillard deal, Wojnarowski noted in the same segment. “Directly, (Antetokounmpo) literally played no role,” Wojnarowski said. “In fact, (GM) Jon Horst did not bring this trade idea or sign off on it to Giannis Antetokounmpo because Jrue Holiday was involved. And the relationship there and the reverence that this organization and these players have for Holiday. He did not want to put that to Giannis Antetokounmpo and have him have that on his conscience necessarily that he might sign off or not sign off on it.” However, as Wojnarowski observes, Antetokounmpo putting pressure on the organization by saying winning more championships was the most important thing in his career certainly played a significant indirect factor in Milwaukee trading for Lillard.
In addition to the previously mentioned teams that might pursue Holiday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Insider link) believes the Pelicans, Kings and Warriors would also benefit from the All-Star guard’s services. Over at The Athletic, John Hollinger lists the Heat, Clippers and Celtics as logical destinations for Holiday.
Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star considers the pros and cons of the Pacers pursuing Holiday. As Dopirak writes, head coach Rick Carlisle heaped praise on the five-time All-Defensive member during the 2022/23 season. “I’d like to somebody to name five other basketball players that are better than Jrue Holiday at the entire game,” Carlisle said. “Guy’s an amazing player, both sides of the ball. His scoring tonight was at another level obviously, but defensively, he can guard anybody. Just a nod of respect to him. He’s a guy that too often is overlooked as a truly, truly great player.” Still, Dopirak thinks it’s probably too early for Indiana to go after a 33-year-old veteran like Holiday, who can be a free agent in 2024 if he declines his player option.

Raptors Notes: Lillard, Siakam, Anunoby, Barnes, Holiday

September 28th, 2023 at 10:12am CST by Arthur Hill

The Raptors were willing to part with a slew of draft assets to acquire Damian Lillard, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, but a Western Conference source tells him they were hoping to reach a deal with the Trail Blazers that didn’t include Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby or Scottie Barnes.

Grange hears that Toronto’s offer included up to three future first-round picks, two pick swaps and rookie forward Gradey Dick. Team officials believed they could become title contenders by adding Lillard to their existing talent, but not by having him replace one of their key components.

The fact that the Raptors were involved in discussions for Lillard shows that the front office isn’t content with the team in its current form, observes Eric Koreen of The Athletic. Big decisions are coming up soon that will affect the organization’s future, and team officials will have to determine whether they’re planning to contend or rebuild.

Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. both have expiring contracts and are currently eligible for extensions. Another potential free agent next summer is Anunoby, who has a $19.9MM player option for 2024/25 that he’s expected to decline. Koreen notes that means the window is closing on a potential win-now move if the Raptors don’t do something by February’s trade deadline.

There’s more from Toronto:

The Raptors aren’t likely to pursue Jrue Holiday, who is reportedly back on the market after being sent to Portland in the Lillard deal, Grange states in the same piece. Toronto wanted Lillard to provide more spacing for Barnes and Siakam, and Holiday isn’t on the same level as an outside shooter.
The Raptors haven’t held any extension talks with Siakam, Grange adds. Siakam will become eligible for a super-max deal if he remains in Toronto and makes an All-NBA team in 2024.
In a separate story, Koreen looks at questions for every player on the Raptors’ roster, including the need for a new lead guard after the loss of Fred VanVleet in free agency. He notes that Dennis Schröder normally excels at getting into the paint, but he may find that more difficult as Toronto doesn’t have enough outside shooting to provide driving lanes.
Toronto pulled off a G League trade this week, with the Raptors 905 acquiring the rights to Denzel Valentine from the Maine Celtics in exchange for Kylor Kelley, tweets Blake Murphy of SportsNet.

Inside The Damian Lillard Trade

September 28th, 2023 at 9:20am CST by Arthur Hill

Damian Lillard had become more involved with the Trail Blazers over the past two weeks and was preparing to attend training camp with the team if he didn’t get the trade he requested, according to Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic.

After nearly three months of waiting, that deal came together on Wednesday, sending Lillard to the Bucks in a three-way trade that also involved the Suns. Lillard hadn’t been reconciling with Portland, the authors add, but he was working out at the team facility and interacting with coaches and teammates to show that he was willing to remain patient as the Blazers’ front office tried to find a trade.

Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, informed general manager Joe Cronin early in September that Lillard was open to participating in camp if a deal didn’t happen before then, sources tell Charania and Amick, and Lillard told team officials that he would be “fully present” for the start of the season while trade talks continued.

However, the authors’ sources say Cronin didn’t want the distraction of having Lillard on the roster when camp began and preferred to get a deal out of the way before Monday’s media day. He viewed the Lillard situation as “a cloud over the organization” and wanted the team to be able to focus on the season ahead without having to worry about Lillard’s future.

Charania and Amick provide more inside information about Wednesday’s blockbuster:

When Lillard made his trade request on July 1, he told team officials he only wanted to go to Miami and was expecting to be rewarded for his years of loyalty to the organization. Charania and Amick confirm the Blazers and Heat talked several times in July, but the negotiations never became “substantive,” according to the authors’ sources. Portland asked for Jimmy Butler or Bam Adebayo in its first call, and Miami eventually decided that Cronin wasn’t serious about working out a deal with them.
Sources tell Charania and Amick that in July and August, the Heat were willing to part with three first-round picks, multiple second-rounders and pick swaps, along with Nikola Jovic in a proposal that would have sent Tyler Herro to a third team. However, the Blazers weren’t interested and the relationship between Portland and Miami started to become contentious. It’s worth noting that Miami didn’t technically have three tradable first-round picks available due to an obligation to the Thunder and the Stepien rule.
Cronin began serious trade discussions around the league on September 18 and found interest from the Bucks, Celtics, Pelicans, Raptors, Timberwolves and Bulls. All those teams wanted to acquire Lillard, but they were concerned about Portland’s asking price and whether they would have enough talent left on their roster after a deal to compete for a title.
Tensions reached a point where Cronin stopped responding to Goodwin in mid-September, sources tell Charania and Amick, and Goodwin began to explore other options that might appeal to Lillard. He was willing to consider the Bucks and Nets, and Goodwin communicated his interest to both those teams. The Raptors also had serious interest, but Lillard’s reluctance to play there was an obstacle until the end, the authors note.
The authors’ sources say the Suns started discussing the framework of a Deandre Ayton–Jusuf Nurkic trade in mid-July, but the Blazers wanted to make sure they could avoid the luxury tax when Lillard was eventually dealt. Phoenix would likely have been part of any deal with the Bucks, Nets or Heat, Charania and Amick add.