The Utah Jazz want Tyler Herro but can the Utah Jazz get him without the Damian Lillard trade?
The Utah Jazz are open to landing Tyler Herro, at least according to various rumors and such surrounding the internet. The belief was that the Jazz would like to land Herro as part of the Damian Lillard trade, which was originally meant to feature Lillard going to the Miami Heat. The Portland Trail Blazers, Lillard’s now former team in this scenario, didn’t want Herro due to a robust selection of guards.
So the idea was that the Blazers would ship Herro to Utah, or Utah would ship an asset to Portland and get Hero directly from the Heat. Either way, most scenarios featured the Jazz landing the high-energy, high-volume shooting guard from the Heat.
And this was all predicated on the Heat getting Lillard. Now, however, things have changed. The Heat are no longer a team the Blazers are talking to and while this may just be a negotiating tactic, it seems likely that if and when a Lillard trade goes down, it won’t be with the Heat.
This means that if the Jazz wants Herro, they’re going to need to bring a huge package to the table to try and land him, and that doesn’t even take into consideration if the Heat wants to trade Herro if they’re not getting back Lillard specifically.
Sure, Lillard could now turn around and ask out of Miami, but that doesn’t seem like the most likely scenario here, nor does it mean that, even if true, Herro would want to go to Utah.
There remains a mathematical possibility that assuming the Heat don’t get Lillard, the Jazz could still land Herro if they’re interested. But, just because it’s a possibility doesn’t mean it happens. Unless Herro wants out after all this drama, it seems very likely that if the Heat doesn’t get in on the Lillard trade, then the Jazz won’t get Herro.