NBA Trade Rumors: Portland Trail Blazers Looking To Add To Lillard, McCollum

The Portland Trail Blazers are reportedly looking to add to the duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

The Trail Blazers have started the 2018/19 season well as they currently top the Western Conference with a 12-5 record. Over 16 games, Lillard is averaging 26.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists while McCollum is averaging 20.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists.

They most recently combined for 60 points in Portland's 118-114 win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday, leading some to wonder whether this is the year they finally perform during the postseason.

In addition to losing their last 10 playoff games, they have been eliminated in three of the last four opening-round series, including last season when the New Orleans Pelicans swept them.

To help change their fortunes, Portland are hoping to add a third impact player to supplement Lillard and McCollum, according to ESPN's Zach Lowe. But who could they possibly add that could take them that extra step further?

While Lowe writes that the likes of Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard or Kevin Durant are out of the picture, there are still some top players that can be attained.

"They will not get Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, or Jimmy Butler. But how different would they look if they traded for a wing on the level of Tobias Harris or Khris Middleton?" Lowe speculated. "They could dangle their first-round pick to chase someone like Taurean Prince, hoping he develops into a real 3-and-D starter with more off-the-bounce juice than Harkless or Aminu."

"Perhaps they could wrest Otto Porter Jr. from Washington. Throw a player like that alongside Lillard, McCollum and Collins, and Portland's future looks interesting. If Golden State breaks up, why couldn't the Blazers dream big?" he added.

In addition, Portland could use 21-year-old Zach Collins as a valuable trade asset, as while they would prefer to keep him, they may have to let go off him or Jusuf Nurkic given their lack of tradable contracts.

"Collins is emerging as a super-valuable trade chip. The Blazers don't want to trade him, and almost certainly won't in the near term," Lowe added. "But with few tradable contracts, they needed someone to pop. Collins' leap turns Nurkic into a trade chip, too. Some of those fat contracts expire soon, opening up flexibility."

Of course, even with a third impact player, there's no guarantee that the Trail Blazers could reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1992. The Golden State Warriors will still be contenders without Durant, the Houston Rockets are still a top side, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will only get better and other Western Conference teams are likely to upgrade.

But Lillard is confident that good things will come to the franchise.

"Good things come to good people, even if you get swept somewhere along the way," he told Lowe. "This is what goes through my mind: I'm gonna be in my 11th year or something here, I'm gonna stick with it, and we're gonna make the Finals [in Portland]."