The Damian Lillard Conundrum

07/06/2023

By: Matthew Cahill

Damian Lillard Officially Requests Trade from Portland, Heat are Current Frontrunners to Land Him

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived. Portland has been in no man’s land since their conference finals appearance in 2019 and has been wasting some of the best years of Damian Lillard’s career. After the front office signified that they are more focused on acquiring youthful talent than building a contender by drafting Scoot Henderson with the third pick in the draft, Dame had enough and formally requested a trade this past weekend. According to sources, Lillard has his eyes set on the Miami Heat, as it’s the only preferred destination of the disgruntled superstar.

The Roadblocks in a Potential Deal to Miami

Just because Miami is the clear frontrunner in the Dame sweepstakes doesn’t mean getting this deal done is going to be a smooth process. While the Heat are for sure a desirable destination, they clearly don’t have a very compelling offer. With young guards like Anfernee Simons and Scoot Henderson on the roster, Miami’s only young piece on their roster, Tyler Herro, is not exactly what Portland is looking for. Besides Herro, the Heat really only have salary-filler players like Kyle Lowry to round out the trade package. In terms of draft compensation, they have two available first-round picks as well. So despite Miami being the spot where Lillard wants to go, it’s clear that other teams have better young prospects, draft capital, or both to offer instead. When you take into consideration that Blazers GM Joe Cronin said they are strictly looking for the best haul they can get for their star, regardless of which team can provide it, Pat Riley is going to have to work some magic if he wants to pull this off.

In order to make this a reality, the Heat are going to have to get a third team involved to try and meet Portland’s requests. Brooklyn is rumored to be a potential third team that could help build the rest of the framework, but things are far from complete. While we think that a deal to Miami is ultimately going to get done, it’ll likely drag out over the upcoming days to weeks. Buckle up for what should be a long and painful process.

BR: Over 5 Teams Interested in Multi-Team Trade amid Heat Buzz

Photo: Alika Jenner / Getty Images