The Portland Trail Blazers are working the phones to try to secure the best deal available for Damian Lillard, who requested a trade Saturday after the franchise failed to upgrade the roster at the start of NBA free agency on Friday.
Lillard has declared Miami to be his destination of choice. However, such a declaration only serves to harm the Blazers’ negotiating leverage.
Miami has reciprocated Lillard’s interest. The Heat, according to multiple reports, patiently waited for Lillard to seek a trade after Blazers general manager Joe Cronin selected guard Scoot Henderson with the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NBA draft. That pick had originally been expected to be used in a deal to acquire a veteran star to team with Lillard.
The Heat reportedly have offered a package of guard Tyler Herro, forward Duncan Robinson and two first-round picks.
This is a light offer for Lillard, a seven-time All-Star, and one that the Blazers have reportedly rebuffed. Their goal now, sources have confirmed to the The Oregonian/OregonLive, is to involve a third team in an attempt to get more assets for Lillard. If finessed properly, a source said, the Blazers could net as many as four first-round picks and a good player with Lillard going to Miami.
Also potentially in play is Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic.
Such complex, multi-team deals require time to sort out.
Could the Blazers play hardball and attempt to deal Lillard elsewhere? It’s a delicate situation.
The Blazers’ hands are somewhat tied here. The NBA culture favors players, especially star players. When a star requests a trade, it usually happens, and they usually land where they seek to play.
So, while Cronin can canvas the league for better offers, he could find it difficult to get teams to present sizable packages if they know that Lillard does not want to play for them.
One of the least desirable things an NBA team can contend with would be a disgruntled star who is about to turn 33 and is due $216 million over four seasons. That would not be the recipe for success.
That reality alone will shrink the number of teams interested in acquiring Lillard. Also, any team in rebuild mode would have no use for his services or large contract to begin with.
The logical destination is where Lillard believes he could win. So, it’s possible that Brooklyn or Philadelphia might be able to entice Lillard to accept a trade to their city. But not probable.
At least for now, Lillard’s clear choice remains Miami, a source has confirmed.
Securing Lillard would make Miami the clear favorite in the Eastern Conference. The duo of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo led the Heat to the NBA Finals, where they lost to Denver last month. Adding Lillard would give the Heat a legitimate All-Star trio who seemingly fit perfectly.
Getting a deal done sooner rather than later behooves all involved. The Blazers have other business to attend to if they hope to salvage the offseason and put together a competitive team, which appears to be the goal given that they retained Jerami Grant with a five-year contract worth $160 million.
The Blazers have a glaring hole at small forward and must add veteran depth to have a chance to compete with Henderson, 19, and Shaedon Sharpe, 20, being at the center of the new-look Blazers.
But a source said this ordeal could drag on a bit while the Blazers continue to massage the situation in an effort to obtain more assets than originally offered by Miami.
— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook). Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts