Would Damian Lillard have been a Net if Kyrie Irving hadn’t returned this season?
Less than 36 hours after the Brooklyn Nets tipped off against San Antonio in Barclays Center, the team will face Portland in Oregon. Monday night’s contest was wedged into Brooklyn’s schedule after the game was originally supposed to happen on Dec. 23, but was postponed. Kyrie Irving is available to play for the Nets, but the Trail Blazers will be without star point guard Damian Lillard.
The game will mark the second time that Irving’s played in a game for Brooklyn this year, but there was a period where it felt like he wouldn’t be returning to the Nets this season.
And if there would’ve been no traction surrounding the conversations about Irving re-joining the team, it would’ve been a good idea for Brooklyn to shop the trade market ahead of the Feb. 10 deadline.
Could the Nets have found a way to trade for Lillard? After all, he could’ve been with Brooklyn from the beginning.
Last second of the 2012 NBA trade deadline the Trail Blazers traded Gerald Wallace to the New Jersey Nets for their 1st round pick.
— Ben Stinar (@BenStinar) July 15, 2020
The Blazers used that pick for Damian Lillard.
Was there a chance the Brooklyn Nets would’ve traded for Damian Lillard?
Clearly, it was in the Nets’ best interest to get Irving back, although as of right now, he holds a part-time status. A trade for Lillard would’ve been far off, but at the same time, it also felt like Irving’s return was far off a few weeks ago.
There have been numerous rumors swirling around Portland and Lillard, but the organization made it clear that the six-time All-Star isn’t available. We know how fast things can change, though, especially in the NBA.
However, we’re going to enter a fantasy world where Brooklyn successfully executed a trade for Lillard. Imagine a revamped Nets’ Big Three with Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Lillard.
In the same way that Harden’s trade to Brooklyn shocked the NBA world, the same thing would’ve happened if the Nets would’ve acquired Lillard.
Lillard’s missed 10 of the Blazers’ games so far this season, and is set to miss at least seven more (including Monday night), but is averaging 24 points per game. Even with KD averaging a league-high 29.9 points per game, Brooklyn’s had issues generating points, and Lillard would’ve helped with that.
He’s been in Oregon since he was drafted by Portland in 2012. Lillard has yet to win a title with the Trail Blazers, which is why people believe that Portland needs to go ahead and split up him and CJ McCollum.
But alas, Irving’s back after all. He scored 22 points in his debut and will get a chance to take center stage again, but this time against the Trail Blazers. We’ve been robbed of an Irving-Lillard matchup on Monday, but we hope that Lillard’s able to return to the game sooner rather than later.
The NBA’s better when it’s Dame Time, but maybe, just maybe, could the Nets have been better with him, too?
