The Damian Lillard Trade Saga: Will the Phoenix Suns Facilitate a Mega-Transfer to the Miami Heat?

At the moment, there are no movements regarding Damian Lillard and a future that is no longer in the Portland Trail Blazers, although the point guard still has 216 million guaranteed (if he executes his player option in the last season) until 2027, the summer in which He will be 37 years old. In recent times, the point guard (seven-time all star) has explained that he and the Blazers (the team he has played for since he was drafted, number 6, in 2012) no longer want the same things. The divorce is obvious, but the situation has not become unstuck. At least, it seems that the Blazers intend for this unlocking to arrive before the start of the course, so the transfer could arrive before the start of the Oregon training camp, on October 2.

The problem has been the same since Lillard made it clear that he preferred a change of scenery and the franchise also sent a message to the player by not transferring the number 3 of the last draft in search of short-term help and using that pick, instead, to get with Scoot Henderson, a 19-year-old point guard (also Lillard’s position). And that problem remains that Lillard wants to go to the Miami Heat, and he (and his entourage) has used all of his pressure weapons to ensure that he does not get transferred to another destination. But the Miami Heat does not have the pieces to mount an offer on par with Lillard’s talent. That is, at the level of what the Blazers ask for their megastar. Other teams are distrustful because they know that the player is clear about his destiny, and the Heat themselves haggle as much as possible to avoid giving more than necessary since they believe that, right now, they are the only bargaining chip for the Blazers who are trying not to give in. .

One solution would be the emergence of a third team (at least) to set up a multiple operation that allows the Heat to acquire more resources to redirect to Portland. Tyler Herro has been in the spotlight for months, a player with a high ceiling and only 23 years old but who many (including the Blazers) are suspicious of despite his talent because he has already signed an extension (a year ago) for four seasons and 130 million . A very heavy burden for the potential recipient.

In the last few hours, a possible new partner has emerged to facilitate Lillard’s mega-transfer to Miami: Phoenix Suns. The team that has brought together Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, and that still has Deandre Ayton. And that he has even been able, despite so much star dust (and dollars), to compose a roster with certain guarantees: Okogie, Eubanks, Gordon, Watanabe, Bates-Diop, Lee, Metu… The situation of Ayton, who was already about to leave before the start of last season and who has had threats of separation with the franchise that gave him the 1st pick in the draft in 2018, is the most unstable, although in principle the Suns trust him as an anchor of that new and tremendous big three that Durant, Booker and Beal are going to form. Last summer, and after failing to reach an extension agreement with the Suns, Ayton signed a four-year, $133 million contract with the Pacers as a restricted free agent. With his mind already elsewhere, the Bahamas center saw how Arizona matched the offer.

With an all in absolute, almost an all or nothing, for the next ring, the Suns appear as possible facilitators in operations like that of Lillard… or that of James Harden, another whose future is blocked because the Clippers do not give what the players ask for. Sixers for him. So the Sixers, Heat, Blazers and other active teams in the market, such as the Raptors and Bulls, would be moving pieces and turning their sights towards an a priori unlikely partner: the Suns. Of course, not as a destination for Lillard or Harden, something totally unfeasible due to economic reasons and return for the seller in the possible operation. His role would be that aforementioned facilitator, appearing as an intermediary in the pieces (players, draft picks) that move to make a profit and improve his squad, even if only residually.

If the big three is removed, the rest of the players have veteran minimum contracts and/or cannot be traded until, depending on the date they signed their new deal, December 15 or January 15. There is only one who is not in the group of superstars or in the secondary contract group: Ayton, who at 25 years old still has not definitively exploded. According to the Arizona press, Doncic’s Mavericks (number 3 in the same draft, 2018), have made an offer for him this summer, but this was considered too poor by the Suns, who in any case have no urgency to look for a transfer and that they have Ayton unless an option appears that improves, in general, their rotation. ESPN’s Tim McMahon once again pointed out that Ayton would like to “start from scratch” in another destination when the Suns were eliminated by the Nuggets, the future champion, in the second round of the last playoffs.

A name that is being mentioned as a possible replacement for Ayton for the Suns is Jusuf Nurkic, the center who is 29 and has been with the Blazers since 2017, who no longer have him with their sights set on a total reconstruction. Nurkic has more than 54 million guaranteed until 2026, although his best basketball days seem to have passed and he is also a player with recurring injury problems. The Suns value Ayton more, who is also younger, so any calculation that may be made in that sense involves receiving something more in the operation so that it compensates them for losing Ayton and receiving Nurkic. The Suns heard offers for Ayton on draft night, these were very minor and they assumed that he would be the starting center in their new and brilliant project. That will only change if in a multi-sided operation they can catch something really interesting. Heat, Blazers, Clippers, Sixers and covered players like the Raptors are making calls to try to do business before the opening of training camps. And, with the market in such upheaval, anything is possible in the NBA. We may even see a new coup d’état in the Phoenix Suns’ total order format experiment.

2023-09-22 04:47:36
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