Despite the recent deluge of rumors linking Damian Lillard to the Raptors, Toronto-based reporter Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) says the growing consensus around the NBA is that the Trail Blazers guard will ultimately land in Miami, his preferred destination.
If Lillard is sent to Miami, what would the Heat realistically have to give up? One veteran scout who spoke to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald believes that a package of Tyler Herro, three first-round picks, cap filler (likely Kyle Lowry‘s expiring contract), and one player from the trio of Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez, and Caleb Martin would make sense for both sides.
“If I’m the Heat, I offer two (first-round) picks, Herro and one of the three young players, preferably Jovic or Jaquez, and see if anybody tops that,” the scout said. “If you have to give up one more pick, fine. Three picks are rich for a guy who’s 33 with ($216MM) left on his contract. But I could understand offering a third. I would do it if that made the difference in making the deal.”
Previous reporting indicated that Miami initially made an offer that included Herro and two first-round picks.
Because they owe a protected 2025 first-round pick to Oklahoma City, the Heat can currently only include two first-rounders in any trade package, due to the Stepien rule. They would have to reach a separate agreement with the Thunder amending the terms of that traded pick in order to free up a third movable first-rounder. Alternatively, they could offer one or more first-round pick swaps.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Speaking to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, Nikola Jovic discussed his experience playing for Serbia in the FIBA World Cup, the status of a back injury that bothered him earlier in the year, and how it felt to have his name pop up in the Lillard trade rumors. A busy summer helped Jovic not spend much time thinking about that trade speculation, he told Chiang. “You just concentrate on other things. I was just so concentrated on basketball there that I didn’t have time to think about what’s going to happen,” Jovic said. “It’s a business. So what happens happens. But of course, right now when I’m (in Miami) and more people talk about it, it’s different than when I was there and just playing and being in the game all the time.”
- Chiang also interviewed Caleb Martin, who said that Miami feels like a “second home” to him after two years with the Heat and spoke about the offseason departures of Max Strus and Gabe Vincent. “We have to find that new connectivity and chemistry with the new guys,” Martin said. “But I feel like we got the right type of guys who fit that system and that shouldn’t be hard. It seems like everybody is about winning. You know what it is when you come to play for the Heat. So you just gotta jump in line with the culture. I feel like we got the right guys to do that.”
- In a pair of articles for The Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman evaluates the Heat’s depth chart at small forward and power forward. As Winderman observes, one starting lineup decision on tap for Miami will be whether to try Martin as a starter at the four again or stick with a more traditional power forward like Kevin Love.
Miami’s “offers” are terrible at best.
It helps to know that they don’t have 3 FRPs. So they can’t offer that.
They could negotiate with the Thunder, or find a trade partner to take on Herro and offer Lowry’s expiring contract plus whatever they got for Herro, likely including at least one first. Especially if they took back an expendable contract from the third team in return.
This is mentioned in the story. I do think they could free up an extra tradable first-rounder by dealing with OKC if they need to, but the Thunder wouldn’t do it for free — have to imagine it would take at least a second-round pick, and the Heat don’t have many of those left to trade.
Reading is hard….
The last round of “Toronto is the front runner” stories was just planted by Portland in an attempt to get Miami to add to their offer by thinking somebody else was serious about making a move.
Seems a real possibility. It could also be Toronto positioning to be the “third team saviour” … I think Herro to Raptors would help fill some dynamic scoring needs for Raptors. Depending on what needs to be given-up, but could be a three team win-win-win and the Raptors could be the one to give-up the least, as they would be the saviour to Miami and Portland. Clever strategy if correct…
The heat already have a third team on standby with the jazz. The hold is the heat and equally the blazers. The jazz have been willing to move sexton and tht plus a pick for herro whether direct or with Dame. That out the burden on the heat and or raptors to make their final and best offers.
The blazers want what they want! 3 picks and players. When they say players they want to cherry pick. That the rub as teams don’t want to cut their rosters.
Suspect the blazers will get their two players of interest and 3 picks.
I wouldn’t rule out the Celtics lakers or other teams. No doubt these teams could pull of the trade if they wanted to get other teams involved.
Most gm don’t want to waste their time with flaky holdout Cronin. Lots of chicken being played…
Help! Help!!!! The paranoids are after me!!!
I hate how people keep throwing he’s-33-with-216mm-left-on-his-deal as if that’s a reason Portland should take less for him. He might be 33, but he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. He was all NBA last year and actually set a career high in PPG. He’s worth every bit of that $216 MM
He’s also a big negative on defense and has never won anything. So there’s that. I dunno. Miami, if indeed they end up meeting Portland’s demands, is in serious danger of being a three player team with almost nothing else, with two of the three in their mid-30’s.
That pretty much sums up MIA’s squad last year that went to the finals. Brilliant team ball with a guy who is going to get it done in the last few minutes of the game.
Yeah the Raptors angle never made a whole lot of sense, due to OG Anunoby’s contract situation. There is basically no legal way for him to stay in Portland after this season, without him leaving millions on the table. Were Portland a contender, maybe they swallow that, but it makes zero sense for a rebuilder to make him the centerpiece of a trade. I think the Blazers started that conversation hoping the Raptors were willing to talk Barnes. When they weren’t, it became just a leverage PR move.
Anunoby’s Bird rights would be traded with him, so if he were dealt, his new team would have the ability to offer him anything up to the maximum next summer.
Having said that, he’s limited to a 40% raise on an extension, so if he wants more than that, he’d have to go all the way to free agency, which would be risky for any team that acquires him.
“Three picks are rich for a guy who’s 33… ”
Context is important here. Three lottery picks would be “rich”. Miami’s 1sts would be mid- to late-round picks. In that case, three picks would not be “rich”. Considering where these 1sts will end up landing, Miami’s offer is weak.
The only two they can trade right now are in 2028 and 2030 — given how old Butler and Lillard will be by then, I wouldn’t say those picks are guaranteed to land in the back half of the first round (though given the Heat’s history under Riley, I certainly wouldn’t bet on them being lottery picks either).
Miami shouldn’t offer more than Robinson, Lowry and a couple 2nds. They don’t need Lillard. It would actually hurt them considering Giannis will Sign there in a couple years.
Then Miami can go kick rocks. Portland is giving Lillard away. This isn’t a Black Friday sale.
Haha,good they can keep their $60m geriatric. They should be luck someone is even willing to take on that atrocious contract
And I’m sure if this was KD instead of Dame you’d still have the same opinion right? I mean he’s even older and his contract is in the same ballpark.
The Heat already have a $48 million dollar geriatric, what’s another? Dame’s game will age better though as he can actually shoot the ball. The Heat are lucky Lillard’s boy Bam plays there, otherwise Lillard would want to go to an actual contender.
Like geriatric Jimmy Geriatric Butler (34) , and dozens of other stars who stunk once they hit 33: *Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, and dozens of others.
* I include first names as a clodpate of your caliber, Blow, is unlikely to have heard of these fellows.
A “growing” consensus of executives? When did this growth spurt start? It doesn’t take much transactional experience to know that it’s very doubtful that MIA’s existing offer will ever be accepted.
Even the MIA FO knows this, or they wouldn’t have directed one of their minions (Jackson) to float this proposal. It suggests that MIA’s willingness to up the existing offer is limited to adding one of 3 young players, and eventually (if they really get generous) a 3rd FRP. That pick would almost have to be in the next draft, 2024, so it’s at least possible that POR might not think it so “rich” after all.
This is an cogent a comment as you’ll ever hope to read here at the male version of, As The World Turns. Kudo’s to DXC.