3 reasons the Portland Trail Blazers aren't trading Damian Lillard

3 reasons the Portland Trail Blazers aren’t trading Damian Lillard

PORTLAND, OREGON - JUNE 03: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers attempts a three point basket against the Denver Nuggets during Round 1, Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Playoffs at Moda Center on June 03, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) /

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Reason #2 – It isn’t easy to match the salary

Because of trade rules under the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, you have to bring back 125% of the salary that a team sends out.

So, for example, as Dame earns $39,344,970 in the 2021/22 season, a team that wants to trade for him would need to send a minimum of $31.74 million.

If a player on the other team doesn’t earn that salary, they can put in a combination of players, but it gets tricky. If the Blazers are, say $2 million into the luxury tax and want to shed some salary to get out of the tax, then they would need to bring back an exact amount of salary.

This would be the same for the team the Blazers traded with. They would need to send an exact amount of salary to stay out of a tax if they were close to it. If you don’t trade for a player with the $31.74 million salary, ( as above, these max players are tough to find available in a trade ), you need to find that minimum amount or an amount to stay under the tax by combining salaries. Not an easy task.

Dame earning $40 million per season makes salary matching in a trade, very difficult.