Milwaukee Bucks rival Chicago Bulls has been the latest team rumored to be linked to Damian Lillard, the current point guard of the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard has expressed several times that the only team he wants to be traded to is the Miami Heat, and we are less than a month away until the 2023-2024 NBA regular season begins.
Damian Lillard has been with the Trail Blazers throughout his entire career and is trying to chase an NBA title. The closest he ever got to the NBA Finals was reaching the Western Conference Finals in the 2018-2019 season with them before getting swept to the Golden State Warriors in that round.
Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports said Wednesday on the PHLY Sixers Podcast that he was hearing the Chicago Bulls were the team to be linked to Damian Lillard and that Milwaukee Bucks rival Chicago would maybe have to involve guard Zach LaVine in a potential deal.
Neubeck said on the podcast:
“The teams that I’ve heard-I’ve made some calls, talked to some people-that is kind of the wild card, getting-into-the-mix team, is the Bulls. I know that the Bulls, throughout this offseason-LaVine’s name has been thrown into the rumor mill a little bit. The Bulls shot that down publicly. The suggestion has been out there that if, or when, they trade LaVine that they would want a star-level return, young players, picks, things with upside as they start to retool and reimagine their roster. What I have heard in the last few days is that it looks like they might be trying to move LaVine as part of a multi-team deal to see if they can get into the Dame Lillard sweepstakes.”
Zach LaVine is 28 years old and is currently the Chicago Bulls’ best player, but the Milwaukee Bucks not seeing him in the division anymore potentially would be very interesting. Chicago finished with a 40-42 record last season, and Portland finished with a 33-49 record last season in the NBA.
Milwaukee Bucks Rivals Chicago Bulls Landing Damian Lillard Would Make It Interesting
Chicago making a change to its roster would be fascinating. A big three of Damian Lillard, Nikola Vucevic, and DeMar DeRozan wouldn’t exactly be young, either. However, what is the Bulls ceiling with that core, considering it is an older group and not that young? They are not better than the Milwaukee Bucks, and they are not better than the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Chicago Bulls might be the third-best team in the Central Division at best, and maybe a fifth or sixth seed in the Eastern Conference could be their ceiling, with getting eliminated in the first round. Damian Lillard to the Miami Heat would make way more sense, considering they were just in the NBA Finals a season ago and twice in the last four seasons.
Damian Lillard on Chicago would no doubt be a storyline for sure, but going to Miami would be better for his NBA title hopes. LaVine played in 77 games last season for the Bulls, and he also averaged 24.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 4.2 APG. He also shot 48.5% from the field.
Lillard played in 58 games last season for the Portland Trail Blazers. He averaged 32.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 7.3 APG, and shot 46.3% from the field. The Damian Lillard sweepstakes is something to keep an eye on moving forward.
