Multi-Team Damian Lillard Trades That Actually Make Sense
With free agency in full force, Damian Lillard's trade request hit the NBA at an awkward time. Teams are making long-term commitments and trades, triggering spending limits that curb flexibility. The Portland Trail Blazers will explore and even honor Lillard's request, but only if it makes sense for the franchise.
Lillard still has $203.6 million on his contract over the next four seasons (the last year has a player option at $56.7 million). Teams with a payroll over the first apron ($172.3 million) would need to send out $41.5 million in outgoing salary to match.
For those with smaller budgets, that requirement is $36.3 million. In either case, the Blazers will unlikely find the exact desired return from a single team.
Lillard's preferred Miami Heat (per B/R's Chris Haynes) and other suitors would undoubtedly need help from other franchises. The following are trade concepts that may make enough sense for Portland to move the All-Star guard.
Can Miami Get Herro to San Antonio or Utah?
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The Heat already have a deal in place sending the injured Victor Oladipo (knee) to the Oklahoma City Thunder (per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski) without any active players returning to Miami. That's $9.5 million of the $41.5 million needed.
Per Haynes, the Heat "are prepared to offer a package centered around Tyler Herro, with possibly Duncan Robinson and picks ... [preferring] to keep Caleb Martin out of any trade scenarios."
Pairing the Thunder trade with a Portland deal sending out Herro and Robinson would give the Heat more than enough salary to bring back Lillard. But the roadblock is that competing executives don't believe they are interested in a roster with No. 3 pick Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons and Herro.
Given that Herro is owed $120 million (with an additional $10 million in incentives) over four seasons and Robinson $57.4 million over the next three (with $47.4 million guaranteed), Portland's trepidation makes sense. Perhaps that shifts if the Heat would take on the $54.4 million owed to Jusuf Nurkić over three seasons.
Regarding pick compensation, Miami can offer firsts in 2028 and 2030 and up to four swaps (the franchise already owes one in 2025 or 2026 to the Thunder). The Heat can also offer players such as Kyle Lowry (expiring at $29.7 million), Nikola Jović, Haywood Highsmith and No. 18 pick Jaime Jaquez Jr.—but the UCLA product just signed his rookie-scale contract, so he can't be dealt until July 31.
That's the menu from the Heat. A fourth team may want to compensate the Blazers on behalf of Miami in return for Herro. The San Antonio Spurs project to have about $27.1 million in cap space, which happens to be almost precisely the number needed to take him on.
Would the Spurs sacrifice some of its draft compensation, including future firsts from the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets (some, not all), for a young scorer to blend with Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Tre Jones and others?
How about the Utah Jazz, with its many firsts from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers (plus one from the Los Angeles Lakers)? The Jazz don't have enough cap space to take Herro outright but could offer players (Ochai Agbaji, Collin Sexton, Kelly Olynyk, Talen Horton-Tucker, etc.) to make a deal work.
Lillard's preferred path to Miami isn't out of the question, but it may take another franchise to make a generous offer for Herro to have any real legs.
Harden to the Clippers and Dame to Philly?
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The L.A. Clippers have been linked to James Harden (h/t Haynes) and Lillard, but who goes where?
The Philadelphia 76ers are dealing with Harden wanting a trade. Of the few players in the NBA who can match his star power, Lillard's among them. With Harden and one additional player (Jaden Springer, Furkan Korkmaz, Danuel House Jr., etc.), the 76ers can get enough outgoing salary to match Lillard.
Would the Blazers want Harden? More importantly, given his expiring contract and propensity to demand trades, does Harden want Portland? Assuming not, Harden could go to Los Angeles (believed to be his top choice), but the Clippers would need to come up with the primary compensation to Portland.
L.A. has first-rounders in 2028 and 2030 and players like Terance Mann, Bones Hyland, Norman Powell, Robert Covington, Ivica Zubac and Marcus Morris Sr. The team has prospects like Kobe Brown (No. 30), Amir Coffey, Brandon Boston Jr. and Jason Preston.
Perhaps helping the Blazers get off Nurkić's salary would help as well—Zubac would probably appeal to Portland as Nurkić's replacement. The Clippers don't appear ready to move Paul George (or Kawhi Leonard) and aren't believed to be open to taking on Tobias Harris from the Sixers.
But if L.A. taking Harris meant Harden without giving up George—and the 76ers included compensation (perhaps 2030 first from their limited stock), a deal may be possible.
The iterations are vast, but the Clippers and Sixers have a long list of expiring contracts. The challenge is that high-end youthful talent is sparse between the two unless Philadelphia was willing also to include Tyrese Maxey. He also doesn't make obvious sense for Portland with Henderson and Simons, and Maxey is due an extension this offseason or will be restricted in July 2024.
A Knicks-Spurs-Blazers Trade That Sends Out RJ Barrett
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The New York Knicks have made great strides in recent years, advancing to the second round in the playoffs before falling in six games to the Heat. The team could have made a more significant push last July to get Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz but passed—or at least slow-played too long, and the Jazz pivoted to a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
New York has a solid Villanova core of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and now Donte DiVincenzo (per Wojnarowski), along with All-Star Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and a rugged cast of role players. But the allure of a star on the marquee like Lillard may be too enticing for the Knicks to pass up.
The starting point in trade may need to be Barrett, who would be a valuable scoring wing for Portland alongside Shaedon Sharpe, Jerami Grant, Henderson and Simons. The Knicks can also give a younger replacement center for Nurkić in Mitchell Robinson.
On Saturday, New York reportedly agreed to trade Obi Toppin to the Indiana Pacers (h/t Wojnarowski). That deal won't be executed until July 6 and can be folded into what works out to be a four-team trade with the San Antonio Spurs.
San Antonio still has cap flexibility before it signs players like Tre Jones and Julian Champagnie. Competing executives believe the Spurs want to add a veteran center to help mentor Wembanyama (who may start his career as a forward, similar to Tim Duncan next to David Robinson).
The Spurs would take Nurkić from the Blazers in that role and Evan Fournier (a fellow Frenchman for Wembanyama) from New York while sending Zach Collins to the Knicks to help replace Robinson. San Antonio might need some draft compensation, likely from New York, but the numbers work under the recently announced $136 million salary cap for 2023-24.
The Knicks finally get their star in Lillard (plus Collins). One of the Spurs or Blazers needs to send a token compensation to the Pacers, who are simply joining on a pre-arranged deal with New York. San Antonio would probably need to send Lamar Stevens—soon to be acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers, per Wojnarowski—to Portland (or one of the other teams) to make the numbers work.
The duo of Barrett and Robinson is a strong return for the Blazers for Lillard. Still, the Knicks would likely need to supplement that from its eight tradable first-round picks, including protected ones from the Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards.
Nets Pair Dame and Bridges
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It's widely circulated in NBA circles that Lillard wanted the Blazers to trade for Brooklyn Nets wing Mikal Bridges. But the Nets didn't want to trade Bridges to Portland but to acquire Lillard for themselves. Unsurprisingly, talks went nowhere.
Now that Lillard wants out, the Nets may be able to get their wish. The team already has a trade in the works with the Detroit Pistons, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. Joining that deal with a Portland Lillard swap might be the key.
The Nets can give up a couple of solid veterans in Spencer Dinwiddie and Royce O'Neale. Dinwiddie (on an expiring contract in the $18.9-$21.4 million range) could help take some pressure off Henderson to run the Blazers offense as a rookie. O'Neale is a capable defender with just $9.5 million left on his deal through 2023-24.
The Blazers and Pistons would need to exchange something marginal, but Harris' expiring $19.9 million contract helps make the numbers work between Brooklyn and Portland.
What's in it for the Trail Blazers? That's where the Nets need to find that sweet spot of picks and recently drafted players (Noah Clowney at No. 21, Dariq Whitehead at No. 22 and Jalen Wilson at No. 51). The Nets also have three first-rounders from the Phoenix Suns and one apiece from the Mavericks and 76ers. Brooklyn also has its own first available for trade in 2029 or 2030.
While the Nets project to be out of the tax, a trade for Lillard would put the team above with about $11 million in repeater taxes (depending on the exact trade configuration). Others like Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Thomas, Edmond Sumner or Day'Ron Sharpe could be included, but the listed combination gives Brooklyn enough depth to continue to compete after acquiring Lillard.
The Nets probably need a viable backup for Nicolas Claxton at center, but that's a concern with or without a Lillard blockbuster.
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