Cs want to sign Damian Lillard

[rondohondo]

League sources say the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers are known to be among the many teams that would have interest in doing a deal sooner rather than later. The question is whether he wants to sign with a team now and rehabilitate while under their care or wait until next summer to reassess the situation. The Bucks, who will have to operate with Lillard?s money clogging their books for the next five seasons, are banking on this latest roll of the dice paying off

https://hoopshype.com/rumor/lakers-among-the-teams-interested-in-damian-lillard/

[boscel33]

I would do this.  Save him for a Tatum return and an all in that year.  He could be a microwave scorer coming off the bench or he opens up a White deal next year.

[Birdman]

Pass..35 years old and has lot of injuries In recent years plus of course the Achilles

[Goldstar88]

Dame ?No defense? Lillard! Sign me up. Let?s get into that 2026 draft lottery!

[mef730]

What would we be paying this guy and would he be a cap hit, given his stretch deal with Milwaukee?

[SHAQATTACK]

That?s another Kemba Walker about to unfold , play a game ?.miss 12

[Atzar]

I'd have interest.  I don't think Lillard likes Boston iirc so it's pretty unlikely but it's worth at least asking the question.

From our perspective, you don't get very many chances to add an all-star or near-all-star contributor for a steeply-discounted salary.  It's fair to wonder whether there's any high-level ball left in Lillard after his injury, but I think the potential upside would justify the risk and the cost. 

From Lillard's perspective, he comes into a team with Simons, a former teammate who may ease the transition, and Tatum, a player going through the same thing right now.  And from a basketball standpoint, White/Brown/Tatum would be a heck of a group to surround him with.  Pritchard off the bench to back him up.  There are few better fits for his skillset in the NBA. 

[Smartacus]

I'd have interest.  I don't think Lillard likes Boston iirc so it's pretty unlikely but it's worth at least asking the question.

From our perspective, you don't get very many chances to potentially add an all-star or near-all-star contributor for a steeply-discounted salary.  It's fair to wonder whether there's any high-level ball left in Lillard after his injury, but I think the potential upside would justify the risk and the cost.  You don't get many chances to add standout players for minor cap hits in the modern NBA.

From Lillard's perspective, he comes into a team with Simons, a former teammate who may ease the transition, and Tatum, a player going through the same thing right now.  And from a basketball standpoint, White/Brown/Tatum would be a heck of a group to surround him with.  Pritchard off the bench to back him up.  There are few better fits for his skillset in the NBA.

That?s a great point, hadn?t considered that. If Simons was acquired in anticipation of Lillard being stretch that is some serious 4D chess.

I?m all for taking Lillard in, think he would work better with Tatum Brown, and White than he did with Giannis. More spacing with less defensive attention. 4 strong defenders to mask his deficiencies. Just a better overall system for him to return to once he?s recovered from injury.

[droopdog7]

It's a shot in the dark, but if you actually want to try and compete when JT returns, this could be the only way to add talent.  I mean, no matter what we do we won't be able to add very good free agents.

[Celtics4ever]

This team needs to make up their mind about going tank or contending.    I think we are tying to raise up the asking price for others.

[Who]

I'd have interest.  I don't think Lillard likes Boston iirc so it's pretty unlikely but it's worth at least asking the question.

From our perspective, you don't get very many chances to potentially add an all-star or near-all-star contributor for a steeply-discounted salary.  It's fair to wonder whether there's any high-level ball left in Lillard after his injury, but I think the potential upside would justify the risk and the cost.  You don't get many chances to add standout players for minor cap hits in the modern NBA.

From Lillard's perspective, he comes into a team with Simons, a former teammate who may ease the transition, and Tatum, a player going through the same thing right now.  And from a basketball standpoint, White/Brown/Tatum would be a heck of a group to surround him with.  Pritchard off the bench to back him up.  There are few better fits for his skillset in the NBA.

That?s a great point, hadn?t considered that. If Simons was acquired in anticipation of Lillard being stretch that is some serious 4D chess.

I?m all for taking Lillard in, think he would work better with Tatum Brown, and White than he did with Giannis. More spacing with less defensive attention. 4 strong defenders to mask his deficiencies. Just a better overall system for him to return to once he?s recovered from injury.

A Simons and Lillard were the worst defensive backcourt in the league when they played together.

Why do we want to re-create that?

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I'm not against this necessarily, but real question - what is the best that could be hoped for when 36 year old Lillard returns from an achilles tear? 20-5-3 with pretty bad defense, right?

That's what Simons is going to give us this year realistically, but Simons has some upside to grow into and may even improve as a defender.

I don't know. I guess I just am trying to imagine Lillard in that Pacers-Thunder series. His ball-handling definitely could have helped the Pacers, but he would have been BY FAR the worst defender in the series, and probably the worst defender in the eastern and western conference finals series as well. Is it realistic to hope that he would be able to contribute to another championship run? Isn't that was the Celtics are all about?

[Jiri Welsch]

This team needs to make up their mind about going tank or contending.    I think we are tying to raise up the asking price for others.

I think they've made up their mind. They're not motivated to field a "championship contending roster" next year because, as Brad recently said, their 1st Team All NBA player is in a boot. The main motivation is to maintain flexibility to build their roster next season.

I think this is why they signed retreads to two year minimum deals -- if either shows "flashes" then you can trade them to a team for assets at the deadline or in the offseason.

Overall it appears their model for team-building is the Warriors. The Warriors believed in their Big 3 (a whole lot bigger than our Big 3, let's be clear). But they re-tooled around them after a terrible season and were able to win the title in 2022.

[Jiri Welsch]

Double post! Sorry gents.

[Who]

I'm not against this necessarily, but real question - what is the best that could be hoped for when 36 year old Lillard returns from an achilles tear? 20-5-3 with pretty bad defense, right?

That's what Simons is going to give us this year realistically, but Simons has some upside to grow into and may even improve as a defender.

I don't know. I guess I just am trying to imagine Lillard in that Pacers-Thunder series. His ball-handling definitely could have helped the Pacers, but he would have been BY FAR the worst defender in the series, and probably the worst defender in the eastern and western conference finals series as well. Is it realistic to hope that he would be able to contribute to another championship run? Isn't that was the Celtics are all about?

Not just A Simons. Pritchard can do that too if given starter's minutes. We got 2 PGs who can do that.

We do not need Lillard. He will only create problems. Unbalance the backcourt. Mess up the rotation. Make us worse defensively. Leave the old man alone. Keep him away from here.