Damian Lillard to Miami? Tyler Herro to Brooklyn? How it could go down

If the Heat, Nets, and Blazers were to do a three-team trade, the Blazers would almost certainly need to take back significant salaries in return. They may have to take back a combination of players from both teams like Lowry, Robinson, or Ben Simmons. Portland would likely prefer a third or fourth team get involved to take on salaries from Miami and Brooklyn, but that could require additional assets from both those teams.

But what if the Heat and Nets didn’t have to send out more salaries and just had to send draft equity and prospects to the Blazers? And what if the Blazers didn’t have to take any significant salaries back? Those scenarios are very much in play thanks to trades the Heat and Nets have already agreed to that can’t become official until after the moratorium period ends on July 6.

The Heat have already agreed to trade Oladipo to the Thunder, as well as sign and trade Max Strus to the Cavaliers. Oladipo has a $9.5 million salary, while Strus’ salary is expected to be around $14.6 million. Base Year Compensation rules would limit Strus’ outgoing salary from the Heat’s perspective to half that amount. Those two outgoing salaries, combined with Herro’s $27 million, would cover the $41.5 million required by the Heat to match for Lillard.

The Nets are also in a similar position with their agreed-upon trade to send Harris to the Pistons. His $19.9 million salary is just enough to cover the $19.5 million required to match Herro’s $27 million. If the Nets and Heat were to combine their existing trades with Pistons, Thunder, Cavaliers, and Spurs into a seven-team deal with the Blazers, neither the Nets nor Heat would need to send out any additional salaries.

While a seven-team trade is unprecedented and unlikely, the possibility for the Heat and Nets to combine some of their current trades with this hypothetical one exists. For the Heat, they avoid needing to find a team to take on the salaries of Lowry or Robinson and preserve them for future trades. As the season goes on, Lowry’s expiring contract will be easier to trade and break up into smaller pieces.

The same idea applies to Brooklyn, though they would still need to reduce their payroll afterward to stay under the tax and apron. They could move off a player such as Royce O’Neale or Dorian Finney–Smith, who have been mentioned in trade rumors, to accomplish that. They could alternatively reel in their Mills trade to Houston by aggregating him and Harris for Herro. That would increase payroll by less than 10 percent, allowing the Nets to go over the apron if they want.

For the Blazers, such a framework would avoid having to take back negative value salaries. In fact, they would only need to take back the draft equity and minimal salaries in the form of the prospects they desire. They could potentially generate a trade exception around the range of Lillard’s $45.6 million salary, giving them a ton of trade flexibility over the next year.

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