9 ‘Final piece’ trade targets Miami Heat could pursue this offseason
Damian Lillard
And we’ve finally arrived at a potential best-case scenario for the Miami Heat. I don’t think anyone should be surprised that Damian Lillard is the one target that the Heat should have above the rest heading into the offseason. If the Heat is willing to mortgage the future on one player, that one player should be Lillard. And considering we’ve gotten to a point where there’s a tangible chance that he ends up demanding a trade away from the Portland Trail Blazers and that the Heat would be high on his preferred list, that should excite fans.
Of course, where the bubble-popping begins is when you look at what exactly the Heat has to offer Portland. In short, it’s not much. In an NBA transaction era where future first-round picks are everything, the Heat simply doesn’t have many. They have three to be exact. With the recent blockbuster deals that went down last summer (Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell), to say it would be surprising if Lillard was traded for three future first-round picks would be a massive understatement.
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That said, if Lillard asks the Blazers to trade him to the Heat and that’s the only team he wants to go to, I’m sure the Heat will figure out a way to add more to a potential package. Make no mistake, a trio of Lillard, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo (assuming health) probably win an NBA title.