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The Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard have been the subject of trade rumors throughout the entirety of the 2023 NBA offseason. Although nothing is imminent, there is no doubt that the Blazers should continue to try and target this trade. There is a possibility that the Blazers could find success with Lillard on the roster this next season. However, there is virtually no chance that the Blazers will be NBA Finals contenders next year with how deep the rest of the NBA is, not to mention the Western Conference in particular. Damian Lillard is as loyal as they come and has made it clear in the past that he would love to finish his career with the Blazers. Nevertheless, he also has been vocal that he wants to win and compete for an NBA championship; this will not be the reality in Portland for years to come, so the Blazers need to continue to target a Damian Lillard trade with the Miami Heat for the rest of the 2023 NBA offseason.
After drafting Scoot Henderson with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, a lot of speculation has been had on if that was enough to entice Lillard into believing he should stay and the Blazers could compete next year. They did resign Jerami Grant to a massive contract and have some young, promising talent dispersed throughout the roster, but it still seems pretty clear that they are not quite a contender yet. In order to win in the modern NBA, it seems like at least two stars are needed, and the Blazers only have one clear cut star in Lillard. In general, the teams that do win an NBA Finals don't just have a star but a superstar; the Denver Nuggets have Nikola Jokic, the Golden State Warriors have Stephen Curry, the Milwaukee Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo, and so on. Damian Lillard is a superstar, but this roster isn't as good as the teams mentioned above. Since Lillard wants to win now, he needs to be on a roster that can help him do so. His loyalty is strong, but Lillard deserves to play elsewhere and compete for an NBA Finals, and the Blazers could start to actually build a championship roster with all of the assets they could receive for a Damian Lillard trade. In particular, the Blazers need to try and target a trade of Lillard to the Heat for a package that includes Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
*Rosters via ESPN
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Trade for Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Damian Lillard being traded to the Heat seems like the most likely outcome of the Lillard saga of the 2023 NBA offseason. However, in order for this to go how the Blazers want it to go, they need to target a trade that lands them Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr as the primary pieces. These two players would fit in perfectly in the young core that the Blazers are developing with Henderson, Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe. Alongside Kris Murray and Nassir Little as well, Herro and Jaquez Jr would give the Blazers a youth movement that could make waves in a few years.
Tyler Herro has already established himself as a proven scorer in the NBA. At 23-years-old, Herro is well on his way to becoming one of the elite scorers in the NBA. With the Blazers, he could become the primary scoring option alongside Henderson and Grant while seeing his game evolve swimmingly over the next few years of Blazers development. The Blazers best asset they could get for trading Damian Lillard to the Heat is Herro, as it is unlikely that Miami would part ways with Bam Adebayo. A trade of Damian Lillard to the Heat should only be a target if the Blazers get Herro in return, and this should be a point of emphasis in negotiations. Nevertheless, after Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr should be the next Blazers target in a trade.
Getting the Heat to include Jaime Jaquez Jr in a trade would be a tall task given they just used a first-round selection on him in the 2023 NBA Draft. Still, the price for Lillard will not be cheap, and the Blazers need to make it clear that Jaquez needs to be included. It is fairly obvious to the trained basketball eye that Jaquez Jr is going to be a good NBA player; he works as hard as anyone, has a very strong basketball IQ, has a very developed fundamental game, and he is not afraid to do whatever he can on both ends of the floor. For a Blazers team that is undergoing a youth movement, Jaquez Jr is the perfect player to bring in and build a culture around. As the Blazers continue to target a Damian Lillard trade with the Heat, Jaime Jaquez Jr and Tyler Herro need to be the two priorities in negotiations.
