Getty Damian Lillard with Carmelo Anthony.
It was a long time coming but Carmelo Anthony is finally teammates with LeBron James. The Los Angeles Lakers struck a deal with the 10-time All-Star in free agency and should have his best shot yet at winning a championship. However, he’s leaving another superstar behind with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Over his two seasons in Portland, Anthony grew close with Damian Lillard. Unfortunately, that team doesn’t appear to be a true threat to win a championship and Anthony is 37-years-old. Going to Los Angeles was the right move if he is hoping to win a title before retirement. Anthony posted a farewell message to Portland on Instagram. Instead of giving him a fond farewell, Lillard decided to take a playful jab at his now-former teammate.
“Off the property Bruv,” wrote Lillard.
Anthony wasn’t the player keeping the Trail Blazers relevant so there’s no bad blood there. The two players should be seeing each other quite a bit this season.
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Are Blazers Doing Enough to Keep Lillard?
Throughout this offseason, Lillard has been sending a lot of mixed signals about his future. From cryptic Instagram posts to reports that he’s considering asking for a trade, it doesn’t appear that he knows what he wants. In all likelihood, he was wanting to see what the Blazers would do in free agency.
So far, the team’s biggest move has been re-signing Norman Powell. Had they lost him, there’s no telling what Lillard might do. Outside of that move, Portland hasn’t done much. The two most notable new players coming in are Ben McLemore and Cody Zeller. Those two aren’t exactly needle movers and won’t get the team over the hump.
It’s hard to imagine Lillard is overly enthused with how the offseason has gone. They made a controversial hiring at head coach with Chauncey Billups and have yet to make a big roster addition. Lillard could still give Portland one more season but unless they pull off a Hail Mary, this may be his last season with the team.
Lakers’ Lillard Dreams Likely Dead
Regardless of what Lillard does over the next several months, the Lakers have no hope of trading for the superstar. They hitched their wagon to Russell Westbrook earlier this offseason and he’ll at least get a full year with the team. However, Lillard would’ve been a much better fit in Los Angeles. He’s an infinitely better shooter than Westbrook and can play off the ball with LeBron James running the offense.
Even if the Westbrook experiment doesn’t work out and Lillard becomes available, the Trail Blazers won’t want him. The only appealing tradeable asset the Lakers have right now is Talen Horton-Tucker. Alex Caruso and Kyle Kuzma are gone so young talent isn’t abundant in Los Angeles. The only hope the Lakers would have of getting Lillard is if he said they were the only team he’d want to play for. In that scenario, the Blazers could be forced to take on Westbrook as part of a trade. That’s highly unlikely to happen.
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