Grade the Trade: Mavs land James Harden in mock 4-team Damian Lillard megadeal

Grade the Trade: Mavericks land James Harden in mock 4-team Damian Lillard trade with 76ers, Heat, and Trail Blazers

Obviously, the Philadelphia 76ers will want a big return for James Harden, and at the same time, the Portland Trail Blazers and Miami Heat are going to be negotiating a Damian Lillard trade.

Why not combine the two deals into one?

Here is the full outline of our proposed trade:

Mavericks receive: James Harden

Heat receive: Damian Lillard, Maxi Kleber, Furkan Korkmaz

76ers receive: Tyler Herro, Tim Hardaway Jr., 2029 1st-Round Pick Swap (via MIA)

Trail Blazers receive: Kyle Lowry, Jaden Hardy, Jaime Jaquez Jr., 2027 1st-Round Pick Swap (via MIA), 2027 1st-Round Pick (via DAL), 2028 1st-Round Pick (via MIA), 2030 1st-Round Pick (via MIA)

Adding Harden to the mix would see the Dallas Mavericks create a core of Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, and Harden with a solid supporting cast around them.

For the Heat, this deal would see them finally land Lillard - a player they have been targeting in a trade all summer long. They’d also get back Maxi Kleber from the Mavericks and Furkan Korkmaz from the 76ers.

The 76ers would get an okay package back for Harden, adding a starting-caliber guard in Tyler Herro, who is still only 23 years old, Tim Hardaway Jr., and a future pick swap.

Lastly, the Trail Blazers would get a couple of young prospects and a hoard of first-round picks in exchange for Lillard. There’s a chance they would want more, but this isn’t a terrible return.

Now, let’s go through each team and grade the trade from every perspective, starting with the Heat, then the Trail Blazers, then the 76ers, and then finally, the Mavericks.