Damian Lillard was out of view at the NBA2K24 Summer League in Las Vegas and yet still the talk of the town over the past week amid his demand to be traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Miami Heat.
And there was plenty of talk.
Some coherent and cogent.
Some perplexing and puzzling.
Some fair, some foolish.
A few thoughts on what happened in Vegas as nothing happened with Lillard.
— A Herro-ic injustice: No one involved in the Lillard trade speculation has been treated as unjustly and unfairly as Tyler Herro, who seemingly has been dismissed as unworthy of even being mentioned in the same sentence as Lillard.
At 23, with his prime still ahead, the Heat guard already has had a playoff dynamic run to the 2020 NBA Finals, been named the NBA’s 2022 Sixth Man of the Year and averaged more than 20 points each of the past two seasons.
On the cusp of All-Star level, Herro, at worst, is tracking toward a Jamal Crawford or Lou Williams type of career, with his streak scoring compensating for defensive deficiencies.
As for the perception of being dangled by the Heat as if expendable, Herro only has been offered, actually offered, for only two players since being drafted out of Kentucky in 2019: Kevin Durant and Lillard. As in two of the best players in the game today and two of the top 75 of all time.
— Opportunity lost: While Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin deserves credit for facing the media at summer league, his insistence on potentially playing the long game until there is an equitable Lillard resolution rings hollow.
Had Cronin acted on Lillard’s impatience at the draft (yes, Lillard’s formal trade demand did not come until days later), he could have worked with the Heat’s No. 18 pick in play.
Instead, if there is a Heat deal, his option from the 2023 draft is taking on Heat selection Jaime Jaquez Jr. instead of a player specifically targeted by Portland. For that matter, had Cronin moved to acquire the Heat’s No. 18 selection last month, he potentially could have packaged No. 18 with the No. 23 the Blazers had acquired from the Knicks, possibly moving into the lottery range.
From there, had Cronin worked toward a Lillard resolution at the July 1 start of free agency, the Blazers potentially could have worked with the Heat’s outgoing money of Victor Oladipo and Max Strus to ease the amount of salary Portland has to take in for Lillard.
The waiting game creates an air of deliberateness. It also, in this case, potentially meant opportunity lost.
— The pots o’ plenty: Somewhat lost amid the pontification of outside league executives and media types who fancy themselves as de facto executives is the reality that the Heat remain positioned to offer value for a 33-year-old guard who is due nearly $200 million over the next four years.
Essentially, the Heat have three pots the Blazers can dip into to craft a deal.
In Pot A are the contracts needed to match for salary-cap purposes: There is the $29.7 million on the final year of Kyle Lowry’s contract. There is the $18.2 million due next season to Duncan Robinson, who has an additional two seasons on his contract. And there is the $27 million for 2023-24 on the start of the four-year extension Herro signed in October.
In Pot B are low-cost prospects who could potentially offer long-term payoff, from Jaquez to 2022 first-round pick Nikola Jovic to 2023 playoff breakout performer Caleb Martin. The Heat likely would be willing to offer one; the Blazers would likely want two. (Could Martin prove to be a deal breaker on either end?)
In Pot C are up to four first-round draft picks to the Heat could cobble together with a trade of Herro to a third party for at least one and a potential agreement with the Oklahoma City Thunder to free up another. It is doubtful the Heat would want to offer more than two; it is likely the Blazers would want at least three.
The bottom line is that if crafting such a trade would create consternation from both sides, then it’s not a case of one of the sides lacking components for something equitable.
— Waiting game, Part II: “If it takes months, it takes months.”
That utterance from Cronin probably stood for every reason why the Heat do not hold such media sessions. Pat Riley wasn’t even in Las Vegas. Erik Spoelstra went out of his way not to comment publicly on anything Heat related, lest he wind up being cornered about Lillard. (He was more than cordial otherwise.)
If, indeed, it “takes months,” then it only sabotages the Blazers’ move toward some of the most intriguing young talent in the league. Scoot Henderson at the start of his NBA career does not need the spectacle of Lillard at media day. The Blazers, for their part, hardly need the look of having Lillard remain away from camp after one of the most productive seasons of his career.
What happened in Vegas would have been a lot easier if it actually got done in Vegas.
