Grade the Trade Idea: Heat land Lillard in mammoth 3-team proposal

The Miami Heat were the talk of the postseason, an eight-seed knocking off three-straight favorites to make the NBA Finals. Now they are the talk of the offseason, as seven-time All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard tries to force his way to South Beach.

The Heat have been linked to Lillard for years, ever since it became clear to everyone but the Portland Trail Blazers that he had no chance of competing for a championship in Rip City. Now, finally, that relationship has come to an end, and Lillard has asked for a trade out of town.

Can the Miami Heat actually trade for Damian Lillard?

The Heat are in a strong position to trade for Lillard simply because he is pushing hard to land in Miami. As one of the greatest players in Blazers franchise history., he holds plenty of sway. That doesn’t mean Portland will simply trade him for peanuts, however, and that’s where roadblocks start to pop up.

Can the Heat find a trade package that will be enough for Portland, and do it quickly enough that the Blazers and GM Joe Cronin don’t get the guts to trade Lillard to another team? To do so, they almost certainly have to loop in a third team.

Here is one such construction and why it might work for each team involved.