Blazers News: Potential key piece in Lillard-Heat trade flashes at FIBA WC

Damian Lillard asked for a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers on July 1. The other part of his demand was – and has remained – to land with the Miami Heat, and only the Miami Heat.

Nearly two months have gone by, and not only is Lillard still a member of the Blazers, but talks between Portland and Miami have gained no real traction, and no other team has registered legitimate interest in the seven-time All-NBA guard.

To say general manager Joe Cronin is stuck between a rock and a hard place may be an understatement. At this point, with training camp coming in a little more than a month, Cronin is quickly approaching an inevitable lose-lose situation.

However, one oft-mentioned piece of any potential trade with Miami is showing a few glimpses of breakout star potential while playing in the FIBA World Cup, which could make the current Heat offer a bit more attractive to Portland’s front office.

Nikola Jovic is putting on a show at the 2023 FIBA World Cup

The most recent update on a Miami offer for Lillard is that the Heat are ready to send three or four first-round picks, a young player and a few second-rounders to the Blazers. Coach Erik Spoelstra’s roster in South Beach isn’t exactly stacked with young players, so it’s easy to narrow down the possibilities of that part of a potential trade: it’s either Nikola Jovic or Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Miami selected Jaquez with the 18th pick in this year’s draft. He’s an older prospect who’s arriving to the NBA as a mostly finished product ready to help a win-now team. Jovic, on the other hand, is a 20-year-old prospect who hasn’t had the chance to show off his unique game.

Jovic’s height – 6-foot-11 – points to a big man. His skill set, however, points to a supersized wing. He’s a scorer who can get buckets at all three levels. He’s sneaky explosive and can play above the rim, but he’s more skilled than athletic. He’s not just a stand-still shooter, though; Jovic has shown the ability to run a pick-and-roll at the international level.

That intriguing and unique skill set led Miami to grab him with the 27th overall pick in the 2022 draft, but he missed most of his rookie season due to injury.

Now that he’s healthy, though, it hasn’t taken long for him to show his sky-high potential with the Serbian National Team at this year’s FIBA World Cup:

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Jovic is averaging 17 points in 25 minutes during the tournament on 75 percent shooting and 67 percent shooting from three. His highlights speak for themselves, as he’s proving to be not just a shooter but a talented scorer from all areas of the floor.

This four-game stretch probably won’t be enough to get a Lillard deal across the line on its own. But a player with Jovic’s size and skill set at age 20 certainly makes a return package more attractive.