Lillard, Simons Drop in Trade Value After Signing New Contracts

Multiple Portland Trail Blazers players’ value across the league is dropping, according to HoopsHype. After receiving lucrative paydays this offseason, franchise star Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic all dropped in the site’s updated trade value rankings prior to the 2022-2023 NBA season.

Lillard saw the biggest drop, falling 11 spots from the debut rankings in June and placing No. 26 in trade value across the league.

The list is compiled by analyzing factors such as “talent, age, availability, positional scarcity, current salary and what their next contract could look like.” Despite Lillard’s undeniable talent, his colossal contract at age 32 — coming off a down year plagued by injury — explains his low placement. After signing a maximum contract extension this offseason, the six-time All-Star is guaranteed nearly $259 million through the next five seasons.

After over a year of speculation on his future as the Blazers traded everyone around him, Lillard still remains committed to the organization. Already outside the Top 25, he could go down further after signing a two-year maximum extension.

After Simons’ big free agency payday, HoopsHype dropped him from No. 71 to No. 80.

Simons got rewarded with a very lucrative contract based on strong play in a small sample size next season. Time will tell if he is a $25 million player annually.

Nurkic’s new contract saw him fall off the top 100 list (previously No. 99) and Josh Hart (previously No. 97) also dropped off the countdown.

Power forward Jerami Grant was the only Blazer to see his trade value rise in the rankings. After not making the June countdown, he placed at No. 73. The Detroit Pistons netted a future first-round pick — albeit one belonging to the perennial contender Milwaukee Bucks — in the transaction that sent Grant to Portland, a price that boosted Grant’s stock in the eyes of HoopsHype.

Grant’s three-year $60 million contract raised many eyebrows when he signed it, but it turned out to be a great value seeing the Pistons were able to extract a future first-round pick for him.

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