Damian Lillard for Miami? Tyler Hero for Brooklyn? How can it go down?

If the Heat, Nets and Blazers were to make a three-team trade, the Blazers would certainly need to take back significant salary. They will have to return a mix of players from both teams, like Lowry and Robinson Ben Simmons. Portland wants to add a third or fourth team to take on salary from Miami and Brooklyn, but it may need additional assets from both of those teams.

But what if the Heat and Nets didn’t have to send so much salary and sent draft equity and prospects to the Blazers? What if the Blazers don’t have to recoup significant salary? Thanks to trades the Heat and Nets have already agreed to that won’t officially happen until the July 6 offseason, those scenarios are very much in play.

The Heat already agreed to trade Oladipo to the Thunder, as well as a sign-and-trade Maximum mental stress For the Cavaliers. Oladipo has a salary of $9.5 million, while Strauss’ salary is expected to be $14.6 million. The base year compensation rules cut Struss’ outgoing salary in half from the Heat’s point of view. Those two outgoing salaries, combined with Hero’s $27 million, will cover the $41.5 million the Heat need to match Lillard.

The Nets are in a similar position with the trade they agreed to send Harris to the Pistons. His $19.9 million salary is enough to cover the $19.5 million needed to match Hero’s $27 million. If the Nets and Heat combine their current trades with the Pistons, Thunder, Cavaliers and Spurs into a seven-team deal with the Blazers, neither the Nets nor the Heat will have to commit additional salary.

While a seven-team trade is unprecedented and unlikely, it’s possible the Heat and Nets could tie some of their current trades to this assumption. For the Heat, they avoid finding a team to take on Lowry or Robinson’s salary and protect them for a future trade. As the season progresses, Lowry’s expiring contract will be easier to trade and break into smaller pieces.

The same idea applies to Brooklyn, although they have to lower their wages to stay under the tax and shield. They can move a player like that away Royce O’Neill Or Dorian Finny–Smith, mentioned in trade rumors, to accomplish that. They could reel in him and Harris for Hero in exchange for their Mills trade to Houston. It would increase wages by less than 10 percent, allowing the Nets to go above the shield if they wanted to.

For the Blazers, such a structure would avoid negative value salary withdrawals. In fact, they only need to get back draft equity and minimum salary in the form of prospects they want. They could create a trade exception on Lillard’s $45.6 million salary cap, giving them a ton of trade flexibility next year.

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