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Brad Stevens
Mark your calendars, so that the “tracking of Damian Lillard“It has an official closing date – plus a confirmed destination. At least seconds Greg Swartz, Bleacher Report, Who boldly predicted that the Portland Trail Blazers star will end up landing in Miami before Christmas.
Without an official transfer order, added to what CJ McCallum said, through Adrian Wojnarowski, of ESPN, That his backcourt teammate is totally dedicated to the team, Lillard seems destined to start the 20-21 season in the same way he has done for the past nine years, as a member of the Blazers. However, Swartz does not anticipate staying in Portland much beyond that, and imagines that an agreement between the Boston Celtics and Lillard will be the first of the transfer agreements to be finalized.
“Even if Lillard starts the season in Portland, a transfer to the Boston Celtics will soon materialize,” Swartz wrote. “Like James Harden who played just eight games with the Houston Rockets last season before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets, Lillard’s move to Boston will be the first major early-season deal..
Is it worth the price?
Of course acquiring a player the size of Lillard will not be a bargain and, as expected, a deal will surely have to include Jaylen Brown. Swartz’s projection is in tune with his thread of thought, no doubt. The B / R columnist proposes several young players in development as bait. These players include a prominent player in the Summer League. Payton Pritchard, And you might even think of including a recently hired Dennis Schroeder.
With Jayson Tatum out of any deal, the Celtics can offer Portland a pack of players with Jaylen Brown at the helm, and they can include other young talents (Aaron Nesmith, Romeo Langford, Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard) to tempt. The Celtics have all their future first draft picks available in case the Blazers ask for such compensation. If newly hired Dennis Schroeder is included in the deal, it should be after Nov. 11 (three months after he joined Boston)
We have vehemently opposed getting rid of Brown, an all-star for the first time last season, in exchange for Lillard who has been with him for seven years. Not to mention the huge $ 196 million contract that will generate revenue of $ 45 million annually by 2025, nearly $ 20 million more than Brown would charge per year through 2024.
Will Stevens do his best?
In this scenario the Celtics would gut their squad. They would notoriously improve the starting base position, but at the same time they would have no quality as a substitute for Lillard. The idea of letting go of Pritchard already Schroeder is very complicated as it would give him a lot more time on the court someone like Carsen Edwards, and it’s not something the team wants. On the other hand, Schroeder only signed for one year, while the contract extension of Marcus Smart could reduce Pritchard’s playing time while playing for the Celtics.
As many “super teams” have shown us in the past, a duo or trio of superstars can give you results in this league. Teams will take care to assemble their squads when the time is right, as long as they have a couple of weapons to go out and fight. And, as Swartz says, the Celtics would be in good hands with duos like Tatum and Lillard.
A core armed with Lillard, Tatum, Marcus Smart, Al Horford and whoever is available after the transfer, should once again lead Boston to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, Portland will rebuild his team around Brown. After Danny Ainge failed for an entire decade to bring in star players through transfers, Brad Stevens manages to add one of the best players in the NBA in his first season as Celtics president of operations.
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