Damian Lillard to Miami? Tyler Herro to Brooklyn? How it could go down
The Heat have been operating this offseason in a holding pattern in preparation for a potential Lillard trade. Their moves so far have been limited to signing first-round pick Jaime Jaquez Jr., who now cannot be traded for 30 days, and minimum signings. They’ve been on the hunt for great values at the minimum with the additions of Josh Richardson and Thomas Bryant. They also re-signed Orlando Robinson and will re-sign Kevin Love with the Non-Bird exception.
The team has restricted themselves to minor moves to retain flexibility for potentially exceeding the second tax apron. Should they acquire Lillard, it’s likely they will increase their payroll and surpass the $182.8 million threshold. Using any portion of their mid-level or bi-annual exception, or increasing payroll in a trade by more than 10 percent not only would hard cap them to the second tax apron, but also the $172.3 first tax apron.
The Heat are set to be just $1.9 million below the second tax apron once all their reported moves become official, including the trade of Victor Oladipo to the Thunder. With no guarantee they can significantly decrease payroll by offloading multiple salaries like Kyle Lowry‘s $29.7 million and Duncan Robinson‘s $18.2 million, they need to operate as if a Lillard acquisition will take them over the second tax apron.
For this season only, there is a Transition Traded Player Exception that allows teams above the first tax apron to increase payroll by no more than 10 percent in a trade. This would require the Heat to send back $41.5 million in outgoing salaries to match Lillard’s $45.6 million for 2023-24. There are multiple ways they can reach that number, including with players that they have already agreed to trade.
The Nets, meanwhile, have been hard at work significantly reducing their payroll and increasing flexibility as much as possible. They agreed to trade Joe Harris to the Pistons in a salary dump that essentially will be replaced by Cameron Johnson’s four-year, $108 million deal. They also are trading Patty Mills to the Rockets without taking back any salaries. They’ve limited increasing their payroll to signing Dennis Smith Jr. and Lonnie Walker IV to minimum salaries that will only add $2 million cap hits.
All these moves, along with the eventual signings of first-round picks Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead, will leave the Nets with 14 players and well below both the luxury tax and first tax apron. It seems unlikely that they will go above either threshold after three consecutive seasons with exorbitant tax penalties. If they finish over the tax again this season, they’d be in the repeater tax, which gives higher penalties. That could be a non-starter for a Nets team that was just a No. 6 seed last season.
With Brooklyn likely set to operate below the first tax apron, they can take advantage of the looser trade rules for teams in their position. One of the modifications is that teams below the first tax apron can increase payroll by $7.5 million if their outgoing salary is between $7.5 million and $29 million. Since Herro earns $27 million this season, the Nets would only have to send out $19.5 million to match for him. They have a multitude of salary combinations they could make to match for him, but they may have already done so with a trade they agree to.
Source: Hoops Hype
