An enticing blockbuster four-team trade proposal has the Portland Trail Blazers landing another All-Star to replace franchise face Damian Lillard, with the latter finally making his move to South Beach.
Earlier this offseason, both Lillard and James Harden requested trades from their respective teams. In the case of Harden, he opted into his $35.6 million player option for 2022-23 with the hope that it would help the Philadelphia 76ers complete a trade.
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey proposed a mammoth four-team trade that has both Harden and Lillard swapping teams. In Bailey’s proposal, Portland lands Harden, Kyle Lowry, Nikola Jović, Jaime Jacquez, first-rounders in 2028 and 2030 and a 2030 second-round pick. Miami gets Lillard, Jusuf Nurkić plus 2028 and 2029 second-round picks.
In this proposal, the 76ers would land All-Star guard Zach LaVine, three-point specialist Tyler Herro and a 2029 second-rounder. Finally, the Bulls would get Tobias Harris, Keon Johnson, Caleb Martin and a 2029 first-round pick.
“The end of an era is a tough thing to accept, especially when your star is 33 years old, under contract through 2026-27 (when he’ll be 36) and set to make $63.2 million that season. Lillard’s value on the trade market is out of his hands.
But even if this deal doesn’t land the Blazers quite the king’s ransom that the Utah Jazz got for Rudy Gobert (an outlier that shouldn’t be compared to other trades) or the Brooklyn Nets got for Kevin Durant, the final roster is more than intriguing.
Portland would walk away with cap flexibility, Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Kris Murray, Jaime Jacquez, Nikola Jović, whatever it gets for Harden and a bigger war chest of future picks.”
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As Bailey noted, of course, Portland could always look to trade away Harden. But a core of Harden, Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simmons and rookie Scoot Henderson could definitely make some noise in the Western Conference:
Bailey’s proposal certainly makes sense for all four teams here. The Trail Blazers and Bulls get valuable assets to help them in the long-term, while Philly (with LaVine) and Miami (with Harden) would get dynamic scoring guards to help their championship chances.
