More than two months after Damian Lillard made his bombshell trade request from the Portland Trail Blazers, specifically for him to be traded to the Miami Heat, a new reported frontrunner emerged in the Toronto Raptors. According to multiple sources, the Raptors overtook other prospective Lillard suitors in the race for the seven-time All-Star's services, as they have the requisite assets to pull off a trade should they decide to push through.

However, at the end of the day, the Blazers decided to trade away Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks for a package headlined by Jrue Holiday, with Holiday bringing in even more assets to set up Portland's rebuild nicely. But president Masai Ujiri clarified that the Raptors' involvement in Lillard trade talks appears to have been exaggerated by the media anyway, making them out to be far more legitimate contenders for the talented floor general than they actually were.

“Sometimes these things are sensationalized to the public and people get a little too anxious. We are always going to put ourselves in a place to get opportunities. There is a reason our names or always mentioned when these things come along,” Ujiri told reporters during media day, per SB Nation's Raptors HQ.

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Like most front offices, the Raptors are always waiting to pounce on the next available star on the trade market in hopes of upping their championship equity in a considerable manner. This was what Masai Ujiri and company pulled off in 2018. After years of disappointing playoff finishes, Ujiri dealt away longtime franchise stalwart DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl for Kawhi Leonard, which resulted in a championship the very next year.

Thus, fans could see where Ujiri is coming from when he said that the Raptors will always be involved, one way or another, whenever a star of Damian Lillard's caliber ends up being for sale on the trade market. But the Raptors, at the moment, may not be a piece away anyway when it comes to competing for a championship, unlike in 2018, when their team was loaded with tons of fringe All-Stars and quality role players.