Guessing the Mystery Eastern Conference Team Trying to Trade for Damian Lillard

We're approaching three months (seriously) since Damian Lillard's trade request went public on July 1, and as of this writing, he's still a Portland Trail Blazer.

In recent days, however, chatter around his potential move to the Miami Heat seems to be rekindled. And ESPN's Marc Spears added a wild card to the discussion on Monday.

So, who is this mystery team seemingly throwing its hat in the ring less than two weeks prior to the start of training camp?

After a scan of the Eastern Conference and an examination of each squad's proximity to contention, you'll find our best guesses below.

But first! Let's get a few contenders (or potential contenders) out of the way that probably aren't in the mix.

Boston Celtics

Boston's best trade assets are Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The former seems like one of the few players in the league who might actually be untouchable. The latter just signed an extension and isn't eligible to be traded until July. Plus, the Celtics unloaded much of the trade capital they had in this summer's Kristaps Porziņģis deal.

Cleveland Cavaliers

All of the Cleveland Cavaliers' most important players are in their early- to mid-20s. And perhaps the highest-upside guy on the entire roster, Darius Garland, happens to play Damian Lillard's position. There's little reason to bring in a mid-30s, ball-dominant point guard like Lillard and potentially stymie Garland's development.

Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks' situation is similar to Cleveland's. They have a young point guard in Trae Young who'll probably make several more All-Star teams. And he's playing next to a combo guard in Dejounte Murray who's actually younger than Donovan Mitchell. Even with last season's thoroughly mediocre campaign, it's hard to see Atlanta pulling the plug on the Trae era.

Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets just excised themselves from their last attempt at a star-led shortcut to a championship. They traded James Harden for a distressed asset (Ben Simmons) during the 2021-22 season, and they moved Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving a year later. And Brooklyn actually emerged from that stretch in pretty good shape, with an interesting, versatile and young core led by Mikal Bridges. Would the Nets really leverage that for another dalliance with a past-his-prime star?

Portland will certainly be interested in getting as many draft picks and as much young talent as possible for Lillard.

The Toronto Raptors owe a first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs in 2024, but other than that, they control the rest of their future firsts. They can check that box.

The other one's a little trickier, unless they want to offer Scottie Barnes (they shouldn't).

But maybe the Raptors can make up for the lack of outgoing young prospects by offering some flexibility. Lillard is under contract through 2026-27, when he has a $63.2 million player option. Pascal Siakam's deal expires after this season. Plugging him into Lillard's spot brings a ton of long-term savings to Portland.

And while it isn't quite the same situation as it was in 2018 when they acquired Kawhi Leonard on his expiring contract, the Raptors have recently shown a willingness to call a player (or his camp) on a bluff.

Ahead of the Kawhi trade, there was a reported list of his preferred destinations. The Raptors weren't on it, but they swung the deal anyway and won a title.

Some pretty strong signals have been sent regarding Lillard's preference to go to Miami, but the Raptors may have some confidence they can convince him to stay after getting him into the organization. They couldn't pull that off with Kawhi, who left after one season, but winning that championship probably justifies a do-over.

Lillard may be the main character of this NBA summer, but James Harden's name is probably right next to his on the marquee.

Harden threw out his own trade request in July, and he actually one-upped Lillard by eventually calling Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey a "liar" at a public appearance.

Wouldn't the ending of both sagas make some sense if they wind up in the same deal?

Lillard would get the opportunity to play with an all-time great center in Joel Embiid and could make Philadelphia a legitimate contender for the first time since Jimmy Butler was there.

Portland would get an expiring contract that would bring all the same flexibility Siakam's would. And while Philadelphia has firsts outgoing in 2025 and 2027, it can send some draft consideration to the Blazers too.

There are a couple problems that almost put the Sixers in the "Probably Not These Teams" slide, though.

First, some other team will almost certainly be able to come over the top with more draft picks than Philadelphia can offer. And second, Tyrese Maxey should probably be in the same camp as Garland and Young.

Maxey is one of the game's most exciting slashers and outside shooters. He's 22 years old, and if Portland insists on him being included, the 76ers should hang up the phone.

In terms of draft picks, the Milwaukee Bucks are more tapped out than any other team detailed here. They don't control their own first-round pick till 2028. That alone could rule them out of this chase.

But with Giannis Antetokounmpo putting some pressure on the front office on more than one occasion this summer, the Bucks could get desperate.

Their best offer would probably include Jrue Holiday, MarJon Beauchamp, first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030 and a first-round pick in 2029, which isn't terrible. And the idea of Giannis and Lillard in the same lineup would be pretty terrifying.

But several teams, including probably the Heat, can beat that offer.

Your first reaction to seeing the New York Knicks here could read something like: "Wait, didn't the presence of good, young guards sort of disqualify the Cavs and Hawks?"

Well, yes. But this is the Knicks, and they might be the best bet if anyone outside Miami wins the Dame Sweepstakes.

They're seemingly in the hunt for every star who becomes available. And unlike Cleveland and Atlanta, New York may have the assets to get Lillard without giving up any of its current potential faces of the franchise.

With a treasure trove of future picks and multiple intriguing young talents (including RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes), the Knicks could emerge from a Lillard trade with a starting lineup that includes him, Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson.

Now, such a team would face a lot of the same problems the Blazers did when they had Lillard and CJ McCollum, but Robinson is more capable of holding the back-line defense than Portland's Jusuf Nurkić.

They'd almost certainly give up a ton of points (even with Robinson), but an offense with Lillard, Brunson and Randle would pile up the points from three and off offensive rebounds.