Blazers Continue to Search for Trades for Anfernee Simons, No. 3 Pick

The Trail Blazers are aiming to add talent next to star guard Damian Lillard and they remain willing to part with some key assets to make it happen.

Per Marc Stein of The Stein Line, the Blazers are continuing to shop guard Anfernee Simons and the No. 3 overall pick in Thursday’s draft in search of veteran “win-now” players.

But so far, no one is taking the bait — and Stein reported that’s partially because rival teams are hopeful that Lillard will eventually see the Blazers can’t improve the roster, and therefore will seek a trade.

“Teams interested in trading for Lillard, meanwhile, continue to root for Portland’s inability to find a suitable win-now trade in the hope that it finally prompts Lillard to seek his exit from the Pacific Northwest,” Stein wrote.

It’s unclear what type of return the Blazers would seek in such a package, or if they are exploring a trade of the pick and Simons together, or separately. Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer listed Celtics guard/forward Jaylen Brown, Nets small forward Mikal Bridges or Raptors power forward Pascal Siakam as targets that might make sense.

Lillard has already suggested he believes the Blazers have the assets to build a considerably more competitive team.

“I want to have an opportunity to win in Portland. We got an opportunity, asset-wise, to build a team that can compete,” he said during an appearance on Showtime Sports. “If we can’t do that, then this is a separate conversation that we would have to have.”

Meanwhile, Simons is coming off his best NBA season, averaging 21.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 62 games. He has three seasons left on his four-year, $100 million extension.