Surprise twist amid Lillard’s crisis talks as NBA side got cold feet over shock draft trade
Damian Lillard might change into the most recent famous person to take his abilities to South Beach.
After an NBA Draft by which the Trail Blazers basically drafted Lillard’s successor at level guard in Scoot Henderson — slightly than buying and selling the choose for a longtime All-Star and free company looming — Lillard has “serious interest” in becoming a member of the Heat, in line with The Athletic’s Sam Amick.
Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
“Lillard indeed has serious interest in joining the Heat, who would surely love to pair him with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo,” Amick stated.
“If it reaches this point — and there’s still an ‘if’ here considering all the times Lillard chose not to ask out before — Lillard’s wishes would matter a great deal because of the enormity of his contract.”
Lillard and his agent Aaron Goodwin met with the Blazers on Monday to debate his future with the franchise, however per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the end result was not what many anticipated.
“This was the meeting that a lot of the league was watching to see if Damian Lillard requested a trade, and he absolutely did not,” Windhorst stated on ESPN’s Get Up.
“In fact, from what I understand, the tender of the meeting was that he doesn’t want to put pressure on the Blazers, that he wants to see what they do in free agency, and that he’s going to give them time to do that. So this is an interesting strategic move.
Emotional Wemby interview melts hearts | 02:12
MORE COVERAGE
Rumour Mill: Lillard ‘unhappy’ as ugly impasse looms; Sixers’ absurd asking price for star revealed
$119m star set to miss entire NBA season again as two-year injury hell continues
‘Really struggled’: Ex-teammate delivers harsh truth for ‘non-factor’ Simmons
“He said at the end of the season ‘give me veterans’. The Draft came and went, but no veterans. He’s still not pressing from what I’ve been told.”
In reality, Portland may need nabbed a veteran to appease Lillard in the course of the draft, but it surely finally didn’t come to fruition.
According to GQ’s Howard Beck, Portland “did briefly discuss” swapping Henderson for none apart from Paul George, however the Trail Blazers weren’t absolutely dedicated to creating the deal.
Lillard has come out on a number of events stating that he believes that Portland has the property and alternatives to search out gamers to assist him contend – nonetheless, by not making trades on draft evening, that considerably lessened the likelihood they select that route over a rebuild.
With restricted cap house, it appears extra probably than ever that the 32-year-old Lillard is on his method out.
Miami has been linked to Lillard for some time, together with when he explicitly stated the Heat can be an “obvious” commerce vacation spot for him if he demanded out of Portland.
“I think Miami is the obvious one,” Lillard stated on Brian Custer’s “Last Stand Podcast”.
“And Bam is my dog. Bam is my dog, for real. But I think Miami is the obvious one.”
The two performed collectively on Team USA in 2020 and a reunion in South Beach appears more and more probably as the times go on.
Lillard additionally was on Instagram Live when Will Smith’s “Miami” performed within the background, though Goodwin stated it was “just a coincidence.”
Although Lillard doesn’t have a no-trade clause like just lately traded Bradley Beal, who pressured his method out of Washington, his large contract provides him some say of the place he goes.
The seven-time All-Star is coming off one in every of his greatest seasons of his profession with averages of 32.2 factors and seven.3 assists.
Adding Lillard to a Miami squad that went by means of precipitous offensive droughts in its playoff run to the NBA Finals would instantly make it a significant contender to not solely make it again to the championship spherical, and to doubtlessly win all of it.
This story initially appeared on the New York Post and has been reposted with permission
