Bleacher Report Predicts New Jazz Trade Package for Damian Lillard

The conclusion fans have come to when talking about a Damian Lillard trade is that he will inevitably fall into the hands of the Miami Heat. Lillard has not given an indication about any team he would be willing to play for instead of Miami, so they are the clear favorites to get him at this point.

What if a trade ends up falling through, though?

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN gave us some insight as how the Portland Trail Blazers are not impressed with the Heat’s trade package to get Lillard. As a team looking for 'maximum value' when parting ways with their franchise star, a package centered around Tyler Herro is not what GM Joe Cronin's set on.

The Trail Blazers are “not impressed” with the Heat’s trade offer for Damian Lillard, which could lead to a deal elsewhere now, per @wojespn:

- While Damian Lillard prefers Miami, Portland needs “maximum value” in any trade.

- Miami needs at minimum a third team to take on… pic.twitter.com/lTvmtFUAgV
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) July 4, 2023

The initial disinterest Portland has shown has allowed them the ability to look to other teams to see what they can offer. Dame’s going to be one of the hottest commodities on the trade market in recent history, so teams may be jumping at the opportunity to bring him onto their roster.

It is a perfect scenario looking at this from the Utah Jazz’s perspective. If the Trail Blazers are unwilling to send him to Miami, other teams with a far better asset pool can make the jump into the mix. The fruitful amount of first-round picks in Utah has given their front office a significant advantage over other interested GMs.

This proposes the question of what packages would look like for the Jazz, or any other team. We know the Heat, for instance, would be forced to give up Herro in any Lillard trade, but Utah is in a more flexible position.

Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey threw some Lillard trades together for teams across the league, one involving the Jazz:

“

The Deal: Damian Lillard for Collin Sexton, Kelly Olynyk, a 2025 first-round pick from Minnesota, a 2027 first-round pick from Minnesota, and a 2029 first-round pick from Cleveland.

Lillard is under contract through at least 2026, he played his college basketball at Utah's Weber State University and there seems to be an affinity between the player and the people of that state.

That’d likely grow even stronger if he had the opportunity to play there with All-Star starter Lauri Markkanen and a rising rim-protector in Walker Kessler...

Those three and a few solid role players would almost certainly give the Jazz a better shot at contention than Lillard's last two Blazers teams did.”

-

Andy Bailey, via

Bleacher Report

.

This trade would give Portland a couple of depth pieces to move forward into their rebuild with, along with three valuable draft picks attached as well. For Utah, this gives Will Hardy a potential starting lineup of Lillard-Clarkson-Markkanen- Hendricks-Kessler to utilize. It is a team with a lot of youth but a ton of talent as well.

Would Portland have a significant interest in a package without any high-ceiling, young players? It’s hard to tell at this point, but the draft assets alone may be able to pique the interest of a rebuilding Trail Blazers’ roster. Any team in a rebuild loves to acquire new picks, and the Jazz have a premier collection of them,

While we will need to wait on more developments on the Dame story to have serious confidence that a move like this can happen, the Jazz could soon have a golden opportunity presented to them.

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