Laying out the three-team trade
The biggest hurdle in trading for a player like Damian Lillard is matching his salary. Most contending teams who would consider adding a 33-year-old point guard have invested their money in their best players, players they want to keep to compete with Lillard. Interestingly enough, the Heat are the exception, with multiple contracts they could move and still retain their core of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
The problem is that the Blazers don’t particularly want any of the salaries that the Heat would be sending back. Tyler Herro is close to salary-neutral on his lucrative new contract, with some teams valuing him as a positive but a team like Portland, entering a rebuild and with three young guards already in tow, sees Herro as a distinct negative on his deal. That means Miami has to find a third team to take on Herro.
That appears to be the stage the Heat are in now in negotiations, and they could find that team any time now and make an updated offer to the Blazers. The Brooklyn Nets have been mentioned as a potential suitor to take on Herro, but they likely want to move off of Ben Simmons in such a deal.
Here is what a three-team trade could look like, with the Nets paying up to add Herro and increasing the package sent back to the Trail Blazers:
Right off the bat, we should say that this trade requires the Nets to think of Herro as a core piece moving forward. They have a significant need for on-ball shot creation in the backcourt; their frontcourt is set with Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton, so finding their long-term options at the 1 and 2 is the next step. Herro could be their starting 2-guard moving forward.
They get Herro and in return take on the salaries of Jusuf Nurkic and Nassir Little, move Royce O’Neale over to Miami, and send Ben Simmons and a juicy future Phoenix first-round pick to the Trail Blazers. The combination of adding Herro and getting off of Simmons compels them to add a high-value pick to the deal.
Is that enough for Portland? They are essentially cleaning the Heat out with this deal. They get three future Miami picks, the furthest out of which could hold some very real upside as Butler and Lillard age well out of their primes. Jaime Jaquez and Nikola Jovic are intriguing frontcourt prospects, the biggest area of need for the Blazers. Kyle Lowry can be a veteran mentor to their young backcourt and is on an expiring deal. Ben Simmons is the kicker here, but perhaps they could rehabilitate his value and flip him as an expiring deal next summer.
Let’s say that this is enough for Portland, and that Brooklyn does value Herro enough to be a facilitator. Is it worth it for the Heat to push all of these assets into a Damian Lillard trade?