Trade offer No. 2: The expiring and four future firsts
Let’s just say that the Portland Trail Blazers don’t want to absorb any long-term salary when making a Damian Lillard trade, which is certainly understandable. In that event, the Nets could add in a couple of expiring contracts and add another future first-round pick to make the deal work. Two expiring contracts that would make the money work for the Nets are Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie. The Nets would then throw in a 2029 first-round pick via Dallas, which the Nets got as part of the Kyrie Irving deal.
And if they wanted, the Blazers could probably turn Harris and Dinwiddie into something tangible themselves. I’m not sure if they’d be able to get a future first for either of those players but perhaps they could get a couple of seconds or even a young player in exchange on the open market.
This is the type of deal that would give the Blazers added flexibility heading into the offseason while still accomplishing the objective of cashing in Lillard for a myriad of first-round picks.
Although, I’m not really sure how likely a deal like this is. You’d have to imagine that the Blazers would want at least one good, promising young player in any deal for Lillard.