Members of the New York Knicks front office are doing prep work over the possibility that Damian Lillard becomes available in a trade, sources told Ian Begley of SNY.

The Knicks have been interested in Lillard since Steve Mills was the president of the team (Mills was fired by the team in early 2020).

Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports reported over the weekend that the backlash over the Blazers coaching search, plus doubts as to whether the team is building a contender, could push Lillard to ask for a trade.

Lillard is currently under contract through the 2024-25 season.

Begley adds that while the Knicks would be interested in trading for Lillard, they are also content with building for the long-term should the opportunity not arise.  

The Golden State Warriors came away from the lottery with the No. 7 and No. 14 picks in this year's draft after using the second overall pick in 2020 on James Wiseman.

"There is a widespread expectation that the Warriors will use No. 7 and Wiseman, in particular, to seek more immediate upgrades to the roster," writes John Hollinger at The Athletic. "One name to watch: Pascal Siakam."

Wiseman had an inconsistent rookie season and his fit in Golden State's offense and on their timeline of contention is unclear.

The backlash from the Portland Trail Blazers head coaching search plus concerns over the ability to build a title contender could lead Damian Lillard to ask for a trade out of Portland, sources told Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports.

Lillard has been criticized on social media for a head coaching search that was conducted by president of basketball operations Neil Olshey, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

None of the candidates who were interviewed were suggested by Lillard.

The Blazers have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday and are widely expected to announce Chauncey Billups as their next head coach.

Lillard had no prior knowledge of sexual assault allegations against Billups from 1997. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers have begun to explore the trade market for Collin Sexton, league sources tell Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated.

Sexton becomes eligible for a contract extension this offseason and appears likely to seek the max.

There is a belief around the league that the Cavaliers would prefer to trade Sexton rather than extend him. The Cavaliers own the No. 3 overall pick of the draft and could use it on a guard.

The Cavaliers selected Sexton with the eighth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft with the selection acquired from the Boston Celtics as part of the Kyrie Irving trade in 2017. 

The Philadelphia 76ers have begun discussions on the future of Ben Simmons, which included his agent Rich Paul.

Paul met with president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and general manager Elton Brand at the pre-draft combine.

Simmons has four years and $147 million left on his contract.

While no trade request has been made, Paul engaged the 76ers on whether it would make sense to work together to find a trade before the start of next season.

Sources say the trade value of Simmons remains significant should a deal be pursued.

The 76ers remain committed to working through the shooting issues Simmons currently is dealing with, especially at the free show line. 

The Philadelphia 76ers had no intention of trading Mikal Bridges when they drafted him at No. 10 overall at the 2018 NBA draft, multiple sources tell The Athletic.

The 76ers entered the draft, run by Brett Brown shortly after Bryan Colangelo resigned in the wake of a social media scandal, with Bridges and Zhaire Smith next to each other on their board. Bridges was the favorite of the coaching staff while the team's scouts preferred Smith. The organization settled on Bridges as the better option of the two.

When Bridges received a call from a member of the Philadelphia front office that he was their pick at No. 10, there was no indication he would play anywhere but the same city had played in high school and college.

The Phoenix Suns, however, hoped to make a deal for Bridges. The Suns tried to trade up with the Cleveland Cavaliers at No. 8 and the New York Knicks at No. 9, but both teams said no. The 76ers did as well but their denial was softer. Phoenix was trying to trade up for either Bridges or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

The 76ers were interested in acquiring an unprotected first round pick from the Miami Heat that the Suns owned, which Phoenix eventually included in their offer about a minute before the pick at No. 16 was due.

The trade was a rare one in which a draft night deal was made on the fly.

“It doesn’t,” one league source said. “Usually it’s pre-arranged; 95 percent of the time it’s pre-arranged.”

While Smith didn't work out for the 76ers, the Miami pick eventually allowed them to acquire Tobias Harris.

“When Mikal got that hat and walked across the stage I think he thought, and the 76ers thought, that he was going to be a Philadelphia 76er,” Ryan McDonough said. “That was the plan at the time. But the plan changed.”

Daryl Morey dismissed the narrative that the Philadelphia 76ers have a difficult situation facing them following their elimination in the second round of the playoffs by the Atlanta Hawks.

"A lot of what I'm reading I frankly don't understand," Morey said in an end-of-season virtual news conference Tuesday afternoon. "People [are] saying the Sixers are in a bad situation.

"I don't choose to come here, [coach Doc Rivers] doesn't choose to come here if this is a bad situation. I mean, really 25 or 26 teams in this league would love to be in our situation with an MVP-caliber top player and All-Star, near All-Star, great young players who are signed for the long term, good veterans.

"So, we've got a good foundation. We just have to do better, I have to do better, everyone has to do better."

Morey went out of his way to avoid making any sort of definitive statement either way about the long-term future of Ben Simmons or anyone else currently on Philadelphia's roster.

"We have a very strong group we believe in," Morey said. "None of us can predict the future of what's going to happen in any, in any place. We love what Ben brings, we love what Joel [Embiid] brings, we love what Tobias [Harris] brings; in terms of what's next, we're gonna do what's best for the 76ers to give us the best chance to win the championship with every single player on the roster."

The Golden State Warriors have had no serious internal discussions on trading James Wiseman, sources tell Bleacher Report.

The Warriors were high on Wiseman's potential at the draft and believe his struggles as a rookie were circumstantial. 

Serbian coach Dejan Milojevic, who guided Nikola Jokic during his time at Mega Basket in the Adriatic League, was recently hired by the Warriors for a player development role. 

Wiseman's rookie season ended after 39 games due to a right meniscus tear.

The Philadelphia 76ers pursued a trade for Kyle Lowry at the deadline, but were unable to get a deal done with the Toronto Raptors. After the 76ers were eliminated in the second round in seven games, it is difficult to conceive of Lowry not giving the team the edge they needed to advance.

"There is a consensus around the league that [Daryl] Morey resisted because he’s angling for an even greater star," writes Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer over Philadelphia's decision not to trade for Lowry.

O'Connor mentions Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal as stars the 76ers are interested in trying to trade for, along with lesser stars such as CJ McCollum and Zach LaVine.

Any major trade the 76ers assemble almost certainly would be built around Ben Simmons, who likely had his trade value drop during the playoffs.

"Trading [Joel] Embiid... is a nonstarter," writes O'Connor.

Ben Simmons took blame for the Philadelphia 76ers' loss in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and indicated he prefers to remain with the franchise.

"I ain't shoot well from the line this series," Simmons said. "Offensively, I wasn't there. I didn't do enough for my teammates. ... There's a lot of things that I need to work on."

Simmons shot 15-for-45 on foul shots against the Atlanta Hawks and 34.2 percent from the line throughout the playoffs.

“I love being in Philly,” said Simmons. “I love this organization. The fans are great, great people. I had a bad series. I expect that. It’s Philly.”

Doc Rivers was non-committal when asked if he believes Simmons can be the point guard for a championship team.

“I don’t know the answer to that right now," said Rivers. "I don’t know the answer to that.”

Simmons has four seasons remaining on his five-year, $177 million contract extension