NBA Trade Rumors: Damian Lillard wants the Portland Trail Blazers to sign a defensive-minded wing player like Ben Simmons or Jaylen Brown
Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard has been the talk of the town for quite some time this season. There has been a constant influx of NBA trade rumors and reports about Damian Lillard and his alleged unhappiness with the Portland-based franchise.
According to Jake Fischer of The Bleacher Report, Damian Lillard has made his positive feelings known about playing with defensively-minded wing players like Ben Simmons, Jaylen Brown and Aaron Gordon.
Damian Lillard has expressed interest in playing with several ‘defensively minded wing players’ like Ben Simmons, Jaylen Brown and Aaron Gordon, per @JakeLFischer https://t.co/G9TYP8naX0
Whether the Trail Blazers front office can acquire someone of the caliber of Ben Simmons or Jaylen Brown remains to be seen as those two players are valued extremely high by their respective franchises. With teammates like CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkić, the Portland Trail Blazers will have to part ways with either one of those players, or maybe even both of them, to acquire someone like Simmons and Brown.
How much would Ben Simmons improve Damian Lillard and Portland?
Whether it's Ben Simmons, Jaylen Brown or Aaron Gordon, the Portland Trail Blazers should be doing everything in their power to appease their superstar, Damian Lillard. Having signed a super-max deal with Portland in 2019, Damian Lillard has his eyes set on winning the NBA championship. Yet to make an NBA Finals appearance, Dame will be hoping that signing someone of Ben Simmons' caliber will drastically improve the chances of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Portland currently sits at 10th in the highly competitive Western Conference with an 11-14 record. They have won 10 of their 14 home games this season while losing 10 of their 11 games on the road. Someone like Ben Simmons would significantly improve this team.
Ben Simmons since 2019:
with Embiid in 145 games:
16 pts/75, +3% rTS, 8.3 ast/75
+1.1 on/off (+6.1 on), 76ers played at 56-win pace
without Embiid in 49 games:
19 pts/75, +2% rTS, 7.2 ast/75
-4.3 on/off (-3.2 on), 76ers played at 39-win pace
Don't let the last couple of months fool you into thinking that Ben Simmons is a scrub. Simmons is arguably the best defensive player in the league, primarily because of his ability to guard all five positions seamlessly. Portland are currently ranked dead last in defensive rating in the NBA.
Although Simmons has no perimeter game, he does create an awful lot of open looks for his team. That, coupled with a marksman like Damian Lillard, could spell a lot of trouble for the rest of the NBA.
But to acquire someone of Simmons' caliber, it is almost certain that the Trail Blazers will have to offer CJ McCollum at the very least in return, to the Philadephia 76ers. McCollum is currently averaging 20.6 points per game while shooting better than 39% from the perimeter. It's a slight trade-off for Portland as you lose a sharpshooter in McCollum but gain a defensive stalwart in Simmons.
Random Blazers' stats:
*CJ McCollum ranks 6th in the NBA in 3-pointers contested (68)
*Norman Powell is 11th in the NBA in offensive rating (115.8). Donovan Mitchell is No. 1 (118.2)
*Robert Covington and Jusuf Nurkic are tied for 17th in NBA with 47 deflections
While the likes of Jaylen Brown and Aaron Gordon are extremely capable players, neither of them are as good defensively as Ben Simmons is. Damian Lillard is desperate for a championship with the Portland Trail Blazers and acquiring Simmons just might be the first step in that direction.