Chris Broussard Floats Knee-Jerk Damian Lillard-Celtics Trade Idea

Maybe the Boston Celtics are interested in trading for Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard.

But to base that interest in large on keeping Lillard away from the Miami Heat seems like a questionable way to operate, don’t you think?

The Celtics probably should worry more about themselves and building the best roster possible for the 2023-24 NBA season, and thus the trade idea Chris Broussard floated Monday on FS1’s “First Things First” feels a bit reactionary.

“If I’m Boston, I don’t want Dame in Miami. That’s the last thing I want,” Broussard said. “Even if I can’t get him, I don’t want you getting him. And I’d love to have him. So, I would offer Jaylen Brown.

“Do I really want to pay Jaylen Brown the supermax when he’s my second-best player? Not my first-best; second-best.”

"If the Heat get Dame, and get to keep Bam and Jimmy, they'd be the favorite in the East. … But if I'm Boston, I don't want Dame in Miami so I'd offer Portland Jaylen Brown."

— @Chris_Broussard on reports Dame has interest in joining Miami: pic.twitter.com/pAzGODPHti

    What do you think?  Leave a comment.

— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) June 26, 2023

This came after Nick Wright suggested the Heat trade Tyler Herro, Caleb Martin, Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 first-round pick for Lillard, a move Broussard believes would make Miami the team to beat in the Eastern Conference next season.

Brown is eligible for a supermax contract extension this summer, raising questions about his long-term future in Boston. But Lillard makes a boatload of money, too. And Brown will turn 27 in October. Lillard turns 33 next month.

“They’ve been a contender for, what, six, seven years now. Haven’t won it,” Broussard said of the Celtics. “They need to win a championship, and I think Dame makes them better. They’ve got defenders around him.

“If I’m Portland, I’d rather have Jaylen Brown than that (trade package from Miami).”

The Celtics are in an enviable position, with a superstar tandem in Jayson Tatum and Brown, but haven’t been able to get over the hump, losing to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals and falling to the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals this past season.

Are the close calls enough to warrant drastic changes? Probably not. But either way, the Celtics definitely shouldn’t operate based on trade rumors linking a star player to one of their rivals, as Broussard suggested.