Following Lillard’s return to the Trail Blazers, one Boston Celtics alum, Marcus Smart, has come up as a possible target for them. The X account Celtics Lead floated the idea of Boston bringing Smart back two years after they traded him like the Trail Blazers did with Lillard.

On Thursday, July 17, the Boston Celtics missed out on Damian Lillard. The veteran guard signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard had been a free agent after the Milwaukee Bucks bought him out of his contract earlier this summer.

“Boston, Minnesota — dozens of other teams — had minimum and mid-level exception offers out to Damian Lillard in the last several weeks,” Charania said. “Next year, Damian Lillard will make $70 million between his Bucks and Blazers salaries. In the next two years, he’ll be at $140 million combined in salaries.”

Some sections of Boston's fan base may view this as a missed opportunity. Yet, it's vital to put things into perspective.

To that end, a new update has been revealed about Boston's rumored pursuit of Lillard. According to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, Tatum has been actively recruiting Lillard to the Celtics.