Accept Miami Deal or bring Lillard to Camp?

[SharpesTriumph]

New ESPN insider article today with four trades but seems to say only the Miami deal makes sense;

Miami Heat get: Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic

Portland Trail Blazers get: Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, first-round picks in 2027 and 2029, first-round swap rights in 2028 and 2030.

There is only one Lillard trade that actually makes sense, and that is to the Heat.

It might not be perfect, or one that resembles the Rudy Gobert-to-Minnesota trade in 2022, but that kind of deal simply doesn't exist. This is a good return for Portland that would still leave Miami with a chance to win a title this year and next.

GM Bobby says: We have to condition our minds that there is no Gobert, Donovan Mitchell or Kevin Durant trade package coming Portland's way from Miami. This is a good offer and checks the three most important boxes when trading a franchise player: young players, draft capital and financial relief.

Miami could add Caleb Martin and a third unprotected first (if the first owed to Oklahoma City in 2025 is amended) to the package, but the Heat would be bidding against themselves. Portland has to face the realization that there is a nonexistent market right now outside of the Heat.

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/st...ia-76ers-toronto-raptors-new-orleans-pelicans

Some might say the Miami pick is not fully un-encumbered in 2027. True; however I'd assume the wording of the picks would be such that the Blazers would instead get the 2028 2030 picks and 2027 2029 swaps in that case.

Assuming this Miami trade is the best available would you agree to it or have Lillard come back to camp?

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Other ideas were 3 way with Philly/Clippers where Blazers get Maxey and two picks, Harden goes to LA.
Dame for Zion.
Dame for OG pieces and picks (or possibly Barnes instead)

But they say none of those 3 teams are likely and those deals don't make sense.

 

[blazerkor]

New ESPN insider article today with four trades but seems to say only the Miami deal makes sense;

Miami Heat get: Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic

Portland Trail Blazers get: Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, first-round picks in 2027 and 2029, first-round swap rights in 2028 and 2030.





https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/st...ia-76ers-toronto-raptors-new-orleans-pelicans

Some might say the Miami pick is not fully un-encumbered in 2027. True; however I'd assume the wording of the picks would be such that the Blazers would instead get the 2028 2030 picks and 2027 2029 swaps in that case.

Assuming this Miami trade is the best available would you agree to it or have Lillard come back to camp?

Fuck Marks, first of all. I don't know if it would take the 2024 first and Martin for me to pull the trigger but one of them would have to be included in the trade and I disagree with Marks about Herro; either we would need to or Miami would need to find a third team because bringing back Herro and Lowry makes no fucking sense.

So no I wouldn't pull the trigger on what Tim Bontemps proposes, I'd rather bring Dame to camp or tell him to sit at home. If there were a third team that gave up an unprotected first and expirings for Herro and if the Heat included their 2024 first by reaching an agreement with OKC to free it up, I would pull the trigger and move on with 4 unprotected firsts, swaps (which I could take or leave) Jaquez, Jovic and expiring contracts including a high character champion vet in Lowry to mentor our young guards.

 

[Graduate32]

This was also an article that made it painfully obvious why Bobby Marks is no longer a GM. Like he is really clueless. In addition to what is included in the OP, he also stated the following.

One thing I like about this trade for Portland is Herro not going to a third team. The on-court value of Herro outweighs sending the guard to a third team to acquire an additional first-rounder.

With Herro having four years left on his contract and Anfernee Simons three, the Trail Blazers can pivot with either player in a separate trade in the future.

And Bontemps made no mention of Simons in his reasoning for what it's worth either. Simons and Herro immediately lose value in any trade in which at least one of them isn't immediately rerouted. We simply don't have the room nuture four guards with star aspirations.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

New ESPN insider article today with four trades but seems to say only the Miami deal makes sense;

Miami Heat get: Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic

Portland Trail Blazers get: Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, first-round picks in 2027 and 2029, first-round swap rights in 2028 and 2030.





https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/st...ia-76ers-toronto-raptors-new-orleans-pelicans

Some might say the Miami pick is not fully un-encumbered in 2027. True; however I'd assume the wording of the picks would be such that the Blazers would instead get the 2028 2030 picks and 2027 2029 swaps in that case.

Assuming this Miami trade is the best available would you agree to it or have Lillard come back to camp?

I hate that it's come down to this, but yeah, I think I'd take it.

Not particularly interested in Herro, but at this point I'm pretty fully convinced that the rest of the league is unwilling to offer anything of substance for him because they believe they'd be facilitating Miami's improvement. If Portland were able to get a decent return for Herro, then we'd be in decent shape for our rebuild

 

[Pinwheel1]

So why are we including Nurk when we can basically get the same assets without including him? Yes we get rid of his contract......but we have no other center and his contract is not that bad.

 

[kjironman1]

Why not both?
Bring Lillard to camp.
When Miami starts to figure they need to up the offer they can start talking again.
Take a better deal.

 

[BankTeller]

Fuck Marks, first of all. I don't know if it would take the 2024 first and Martin for me to pull the trigger but one of them would have to be included in the trade and I disagree with Marks about Herro; either we would need to or Miami would need to find a third team because bringing back Herro and Lowry makes no fucking sense.

So no I wouldn't pull the trigger on what Tim Bontemps proposes, I'd rather bring Dame to camp or tell him to sit at home. If there were a third team that gave up an unprotected first and expirings for Herro and if the Heat included their 2024 first by reaching an agreement with OKC to free it up, I would pull the trigger and move on with 4 unprotected firsts, swaps (which I could take or leave) Jaquez, Jovic and expiring contracts including a high character champion vet in Lowry to mentor our young guards.

Completely agree, and I think I'm one of the more reasonable ones in terms of what I would accept for Dame. Miami will probably really want to keep Martin, so I would pretty much DEMAND that 2024 1st with the package. 3 unprotected 1sts, and a decent likelihood that 2027 and 2029 could be a bad year for them once that core ages.

 

[kjironman1]

So why are we including Nurk when we can basically get the same assets without including him? Yes we get rid of his contract......but we have no other center and his contract is not that bad.

Because Nurk is a cancer and needs to go. Getting rid of him is addition by subtraction.

 

[riverman]

Herro makes way more money than Ant and they are basically the same except Ant has a much longer wingspan..they should trade us a rookie and Herro for Ant and Keon and call it a day.
If they want Dame I want either Bam or Jimmy in return. Done fucking around with the scraps Riley thinks his fistfull of rings will entice superstars but Portland cannot get fucked in a Dame deal period.

 

[riverman]

I wouldn't trade Nurk in that deal. We need a bona fide 7 ft guy like Nurk for matchups in my view. To me Nurk isn't a cancer...he's just emo. I only trade Nurk if Bam is coming back to us in the deal. You have to replace him with a big if you trade him

 

[Pinwheel1]

Because Nurk is a cancer and needs to go. Getting rid of him is addition by subtraction.

Nurk being a cancer is kind of a guess at this point. I am all for trading him, but we need a big back.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

So why are we including Nurk when we can basically get the same assets without including him? Yes we get rid of his contract......but we have no other center and his contract is not that bad.

We can't get the 4 assets listed for Dame alone, so someone else would have to be included. Keon's not enough, though Nas could be. Between Nas and Nurk, I'm guessing you'd get a split opinion on who would be preferable to keep.

 

[riverman]

We can't get the 4 assets listed for Dame alone, so someone else would have to be included. Keon's not enough, though Nas could be. Between Nas and Nurk, I'm guessing you'd get a split opinion on who would be preferable to keep.

With our lineup you keep Nurk in my view...we have lots of wings and guards as it stands.

 

[Pinwheel1]

We can't get the 4 assets listed for Dame alone, so someone else would have to be included. Keon's not enough, though Nas could be. Between Nas and Nurk, I'm guessing you'd get a split opinion on who would be preferable to keep.

I was thinking more along the lines that we take Lowry out of the equation....and Miami adds a player who makes less.

 

[e_blazer]

I wonder how much it hurts Marks to have Pat Riley shove his hand up Marks’ ass and use him like a sock puppet. No better deals out there? Then fine, keep Dame and look for a trade at the deadline to try to add a quality player and satisfy Dame’s desire to compete for a title as a Blazer. How is taking Miami’s scraps and late picks going to help with rebuilding a competitive roster?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

With our lineup you keep Nurk in my view...we have lots of wings and guards as it stands.

And I completely understand that opinion. I also think it's likely that our front office would be more interested in offloading the larger contract to remain near the tax line.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I was thinking more along the lines that we take Lowry out of the equation....and Miami adds a player who makes less.

Unfortunately, the only contract that works for that purpose is Robinson's. I'd much rather have 1 year of Lowry than 3 years of Nurk and Robinson.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

I was thinking more along the lines that we take Lowry out of the equation....and Miami adds a player who makes less.

Miami doesn't have any other contracts except Robinson who's contract really sucks for multiple years. I'd rather have Lowry expiring.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

I wonder how much it hurts Marks to have Pat Riley shove his hand up Mark’s ass and use him like a sock puppet. No better deals out there? Then fine, keep Dame and look for a trade at the deadline to try to add a quality player and satisfy Dame’s desire to compete for a title as a Blazer. How is taking Miami’s scraps and late picks going to help with rebuilding a competitive roster?

Yeah I don't understand this "no better deals" "Miami doesn't want to bid against themselves" "Dame is owed x dollars" arguments we keep hearing over and over.

If there are no good deals then just keep Dame here. Dude had his best season ever and is a top75 player. Great shooters age very well. Durant is 35 and nobody questioned giving up a haul for him.

Yeah if a team gives us a very nice package then trade Dame it makes sense with us rebuilding.

If not then who cares if there are "no better deals". Just run with this silly 4 guard lineup and score 145 ppg. Yeah its not going to lead to titles but it will be entertaining. If it doesn't work who cares, we get more draft picks. Scoot prime isn't going to be a long time from now.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Unfortunately, the only contract that works for that purpose is Robinson's. I'd much rather have 1 year of Lowry than 3 years of Nurk and Robinson.

Robinson has two years at 18 million.....but I get your point.

 

[Samuel]

Fuck Marks, first of all.

Marks should recuse himself from reporting on Dame because dude blew his career making the Wallace/#6 trade

 

[Samuel]

As a fan I want this over with.

If I were Joe I'd wait out Miami until the market develops.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Robinson has two years at 18 million.....but I get your point.

25-26 is a 19.9M ETO, which I seriously doubt he'd exercise, so 2 years guaranteed, but 3 years for all practical purposes.

 

[Hoopguru]

As they say "sometimes the best trades are the ones you didn't make". If I were the blazers, announce to the league you are keeping him as he's one of the top 10 players in the league and he's more valuable staying here. Turn off the Miami speculation....

 

[Mediocre Man]

What’s the offer. THAT matters. If their “best offer” is Lowry and 2 firsts then I’d keep Lillard. Let him know the offer was ass and tell him we’d be happy to trade him for close to fairish value

If the offer includes Jovic, Martin and multiple firsts then I’d move him

 

[Samuel]

someone who is good at the economy please help me negotiate this. my franchise is dying

 

[blazerfan11]

So why are we including Nurk when we can basically get the same assets without including him? Yes we get rid of his contract......but we have no other center and his contract is not that bad.

He's not that bad either when the team is moving the ball and pushing the pace.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Robinson has two years at 18 million.....but I get your point.

I don't really care about this years salaries as it all has to somewhat match in trades. But next year its 19.4 and the following year 19.9. I don't want to be paying Duncan Robinson until 2026. Better to have Lowry expiring or just hold out for better Dame trades.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

What’s the offer. THAT matters. If their “best offer” is Lowry and 2 firsts then I’d keep Lillard. Let him know the offer was ass and tell him we’d be happy to trade him for close to fairish value

If the offer includes Jovic, Martin and multiple firsts then I’d move him

The offer is in bold at the start of the first post.

We will never know an actual offer as those are always private or unconfirmed. An ESPN front page article as listed here is as close as we'll get.