Barry has rounded into THE Miami “Heat” reporter.
It’s unclear if Lillard would even accept a deal anywhere but Miami. He does not have a no trade clause, but a team likely wouldn’t try to acquire a player who doesn’t want to be there. And he has made it clear to Portland that Miami is where he wants to be.
Any Heat offer for Lillard could be built around guard Tyler Herro and multiple first-round picks. There are several other players who could be included to facilitate a trade from a cap standpoint.
Among the permutations that would satisfy salary cap rules:
▪ Herro, Duncan Robinson (who is due $57 million, including $47 million guaranteed over the next three season) and two or three first-round picks for Lillard.
The combined 2023-24 salaries of Herro and Robinson - and Lillard’s salary - are essentially equal. The Heat cannot take back more than 110 percent of the money it trades out. Herro cannot be traded until July 6.
▪ A package built around Herro, Kyle Lowry (who is due to make $29.7 million in the final year of his contract), and two or three first-round picks. The Heat would need to take back additional money besides Lillard in this scenario - perhaps Nassir Little (due $6.2 million and with four years left on his contract in that salary range) and a minimum player or two.
▪ If the Blazers don’t want to take on Lowry’s or Robinson’s contracts, another package that would work financially would be Herro, Caleb Martin, Nikola Jovic, Jamie Jaquez Jr. and Haywood Highsmith, plus two or three first-round picks. Jaquez can be traded because he hasn’t signed; once he signs with Miami, he could not be traded for 30 days.
FIVE current players AND 2-3 futures. Holy shit. I’d do it but I wouldn’t like it. How are we going to fill out our roster after already losing Gabe and Max. That’s 7 currents out and one in!
It’s possible that specific trade hypothetical could be done without Highsmith from a cap rules standpoint, but it would be close.
The Heat has two first-round picks available to trade: in 2028 and 2030. But Miami could trade its 2024 first-round pick if the Heat can convince Oklahoma City to allow Miami to change its conditional 2025 pick owed the Thunder to a 2026 unconditional pick. Perhaps that could be done by offering the Thunder a future second-round pick or something modest.
In that scenario, the Heat could trade first-rounders in 2024, 2028 and 2030. Draft picks cannot be traded more than seven years out, and teams cannot trade their own future first-round picks in two consecutive years.
Heavy.com, among other web sites, have speculated that the Blazers might try to include center Jusuf Nurkic in a trade for Lillard. If the Blazers insisted that the Heat take Nurkic’s contract (which has three years and $54 million), then additional Heat money would need to be included in the deal. In that scenario, Lowry or Robinson would need to be included, beyond Herro.
I draw a red line at Nusuf Jurkic! That guy is a fucking load. I can’t stand him. …Well, alright, I’d prefer that Door # 4 to Door # 3.
The Blazers, who have depth at guard, could opt to either keep Herro or flip him for other assets if they try to complete a Lillard team with the Heat.
