The Portland Trail Blazers and Miami Heat are still deadlocked in trade talks surrounding Damian Lillard. Lillard’s only desired destination is Miami, while Portland has no interest in any offer the Heat has made.
But the Blazers and Miami aren’t the only two NBA franchises searching for a blockbuster move.
Blazers trade Damian Lillard to Heat, land James Harden in four-team proposal
James Harden is pulling another James Harden, demanding a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers. This comes on the relatively recent heels of a messy situation in which he demanded to leave Houston for the Brooklyn Nets only to clamor for a trade out of Brooklyn less than a calendar year later.
The Trail Blazers, Heat and Sixers are nowhere near finding any sort of concrete deal to send away or acquire their respective desired stars. But maybe there’s an option that makes everyone happy.
Four-team trade includes Blazers, Heat, 76ers and Bulls
Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report proposed the following four-team trade with the goal of making everyone involved with these superstars happy. Or happy-ish.
Here’s the complicated deal in its entirety with a ton of moving parts:
- Trail Blazers receive: James Harden, Kyle Lowry, Jaime Jacquez, Nikola Jović, 2028 first-round pick from Miami, 2030 first-round pick from Miami, 2030 second-round pick from Chicago
- Miami Heat receive: Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkić, 2029 second-round pick from Philadelphia, 2028 second-round pick from Chicago
- Philadelphia 76ers receive: Zach LaVine, Tyler Herro, 2029 second-round pick from Portland
- Chicago Bulls receive: Tobias Harris, Caleb Martin, Keon Johnson, 2029 first-round pick swap with Philadelphia, 2030 first-round pick from Philadelphia
Before touching on whether or not this is a good deal for the Blazers, the trade has to be unpacked in full.
First, the Heat get what they want by landing Lillard. Jusuf Nurkic – seemingly considered a Lillard tax at this point – also goes to Miami along with a few second-round picks. Goal accomplished.
Second, 76ers General Manager Daryl Morey is claiming he’s only willing to trade Harden for a player who would keep Philly in title contention. Do two good players in LaVine and Herro equal the one star Morey is holding out for?
Third, the Bulls decide to leave Eastern Conference mediocrity behind, instead kicking off a rebuild, or at least a retool. They send away four years and $178 million worth of LaVine in exchange for a first-round pick, a swap, salary filler and Harris’ $39.2 million expiring deal.
But is this a good trade for the Trail Blazers?
Is this Damian Lillard/James Harden-centric trade a good deal for the Blazers?
It’s important to note that Bailey lists Harden and Lowry as “James Harden’s expiring contract (can be flipped later)” and “Kyle Lowry’s expiring contract” in his piece. That’s where Portland’s eventual grade would come from: Can the Blazers send Harden on to his preferred team (Los Angeles Clippers) for a worthwhile return? And what do they do with Lowry?
The Sixers-Clippers trade rumors generally surround 27-year-old guard Terence Mann – who LA has refused to part with to this point – a few of the Clippers’ future first-round picks (they own their own picks from 2027-2030, but with the Stepien Rule they can only trade two of those), Norman Powell, the expiring contracts of Marcus Morris Sr. and Nicolas Batum, possibly veterans like Mason Plumlee and Amir Coffey, and potentially young prospects like Kobe Brown, Brandon Boston Jr. and Jason Preston.
To this point, the Clippers have offered a couple firsts, Powell, and an expiring contract like Batum. If that’s what Portland is going to land in exchange for Harden, this is what a potential complete package could look like after sending Lillard and Nurkic to Miami and flipping Harden to LA for the Clippers’ desired basic package:
Lowry ($29.7 million expiring), Jaquez Jr., Jovic, 2028 first-round pick from Miami, 2030 first-round pick from Miami, 2027 first-round pick from LA, 2029 first-round pick from LA, Powell, Batum ($11.7 million expiring), 2030 second-round pick from Chicago
That’s not the most enticing package ever, as there’s no obvious superstar or building block on its way to Portland. Jaquez Jr. and Jovic are intriguing young players and Powell is a good, not great, starting-caliber guard.
Future firsts from the Heat and Clippers years down the road have the potential to become useful selections. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard likely won’t be in LA in 2027 and Harden will be in his late 30s, not to mention what things could look like two years later. What will be going on in Miami with an aging Lillard and Jimmy Butler in 2028 and 2030?
Powell is another player the Blazers could decide to flip, whether immediately after this deal or at this year’s trade deadline. There’s no room for a veteran guard in an already crowded backcourt, and he surely wants no part of a rebuild.
Portland could potentially do the same with Lowry, although it may be hard to find takers for a 37-year-old guard on that salary. Batum is in the same situation, though he’s owed a lot less money.
This is more of a quantity over quality package unless one of those future first-rounders hit and become high lottery picks. But accounting for a Powell trade that could net a few more assets, this return is much more attractive for the Blazers than anything that’s been floated around from the Heat alone.