NBA Trade Rumors: Heat, Blazers ready for ‘meaningful’ Damian Lillard trade talks?
NBA Trade Rumors: We could finally be inching closer and closer to a possible Damian Lillard trade. Will it be to the Miami Heat?
It’s been nearly a week since Damian Lillard officially demanded a trade away from the Portland Trail Blazers. However, it doesn’t seem there has been much that has pushed the narrative forward since then. Oh, other than the fact that Lillard, at least for now, just wants to be traded to the Miami Heat.
As you would expect, that’s something that has made negotiations all but impossible. Something has to change and it’s not clear it will. However, the hope is that over the next few days, with NBA Summer League here, we’ll get a clearer understanding of where things stand when it comes to a possible trade of Lillard.
According to Blazers reporter Aaron Fentress, there’s hope that Portland and Miami will sit down once everyone arrives in Las Vegas for Summer League in an attempt to have a “meaningful” negotiation. Whether or not that will actually lead to making any strides on a possible deal remains to be seen.
However, it’s clear that these are positive steps in the right direction if Lillard wants to be traded to the Heat.
This comes after an earlier report that suggested that Lillard’s agent was calling teams and telling them that any non-Heat team that was trading for Lillard was trading an “unhappy” player.
The Blazers are approaching this entire process as they should. They are analyzing the trade market for Lillard and are not going to make any quick decisions. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that it’s likely that Portland is going to scan the macro market for Lillard before even coming back to Miami in what could be viewed as a “lesser offer.”
Considering that Cronin is willing to sit down with Miami to have a “meaningful” negotiation, you can’t help but wonder if this means there isn’t much of a realistic market beyond Miami or if this is the Blazers making a move of good faith.
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Either way, with NBA Summer League running from July 7-17, it’s something to keep in mind. When will a Lillard deal happen and where will he be traded? We could have some answers fairly soon. And, hopefully, the biggest of them will be finally answered. Is the Heat the only viable landing spot for Lillard at this point? Will another team swoop in?