Why Pelicans, Timberwolves are sleepers to land Damian Lillard

Portland general manager Joe Cronin said the team will do what's best for itself in a Lillard trade. That makes a deal involving the Heat — which Lillard wants — more difficult than simply a two-team swap. 

The Trail Blazers are looking for "a star-level package," per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, and despite Tyler Herro's strong offensive game, he isn't nearly enough. 

Miami isn't looking to trade Jimmy Butler or Bam Adebayo, which might be a similar problem facing Boston and Los Angeles.

Are the Celtics willing to part with Jaylen Brown in a Lillard trade? They would almost certainly have to. The Clippers also would probably have to include either Paul George or Kawhi Leonard but with L.A. also reportedly looking into building a "big three" by adding James Harden, it's unlikely either one is available.

That leaves Minnesota and New Orleans, two teams that could trade All-Star-level talents and still be competitive with Lillard.

The Timberwolves maxed out the Karl-Anthony Towns-Rudy Gobert partnership in their five-game series loss against the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. Towns would be an attractive trade candidate for Portland. A starting unit of Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Jerami Grant and Towns has the chance to keep the Trail Blazers competitive during the regular season.

Minnesota, meanwhile, would free itself of its logjam at the center position and would still have budding star Anthony Edwards to pair alongside Lillard.

The Pelicans are an even more interesting potential trade partner. Portland traded C.J. McCollum to the Pelicans at the trade deadline in 2022 and the two have remained good friends. New Orleans could include Brandon Ingram or Zion Williamson in a trade, with Williamson being the most likely candidate.

New Orleans also has multiple picks it can trade, including potentially three first-rounders in 2024 should the team not defer its Lakers pick to 2025. The Pels also have the Bucks' 2024 first-round selection in addition to their own.

Would a deal sending Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic to New Orleans and Williamson, Jonas Valanciunas, Dyson Daniels, Kira Lewis Jr. and draft picks to Portland be enough? It would be ideal for the Pelicans to not include Trey Murphy III in a trade, but the Trail Blazers might prefer him over Lewis.

New Orleans would lack front-court depth in a trade involving Williamson and more deals would likely follow but a unit including Lillard, McCollum, Ingram, Nurkic and Herb Jones would be promising.

Williamson's injury history could make Portland wary, but no one else is likely to offer a package with the same upside.

If the Trail Blazers don't budge on their demands, it's possible the Pelicans or Timberwolves have the most attractive packages to offer. At the very least, both teams' presence in trade discussions should cause Portland's asking price for Lillard to skyrocket.