NBA Trade Rumors: Blazers don’t want to trade Damian Lillard to Heat

NBA Trade Rumors: The latest whispers suggest that the Portland Trail Blazers don’t want to trade Damian Lillard to the Miami Heat.

When Damian Lillard decided to request a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers, he attempted to do something that not many other stars had done before – to request a trade to one specific team. Lillard wants the Blazers to trade him and to trade him to the Miami Heat. As you would expect, it has caused quite the uproar and pushback from nearly all non-South Florida parties.

However, since Lillard’s trade request, the Blazers have done little to appease him. In fact, you can actually make the argument that the narrative hasn’t moved at all. It’s been nearly two weeks since his trade request and Lillard isn’t any closer to being moved.

But it gets worse than that. Not only have the Blazers not worked to trade Lillard, but they could be on the verge of flat-out denying the specifics of his request.

According to Heat reporter Barry Jackson, the Blazers had been “unmotivated” to engage the Heat to get a deal done. If this is indeed the case, it’s safe for everyone to take their vacations now; it doesn’t seem that Lillard is going to be traded anytime soon.

Damian Lillard’s trade request is blowing up in his face

The fact that Blazers general manager Joe Cronin is refusing or avoiding to even engage the Heat in trade discussions is alarming for Lillard’s camp and the Heat. This tells us that the Blazers are going to do everything in their power to avoid trading Lillard to the Heat.

This may not even be about a trade return anymore; it could be about precedent and Cronin standing up in the most pivotal moment of his career thus far. I’m not sure anyone truly knows what’s going on behind closed doors in Portland but they have every right to refuse Lillard’s trade request to the Heat.

Lillard has three guaranteed years on his contract remaining (and a player option for a fourth) and if the Blazers refuse to trade him, there’s really not much Lillard (or the Heat) can do.

There’s likely a good chance this gets uglier before there’s any resolution. At this point, there’s no guarantee that Lillard is traded, let alone that he’s moved to the Heat.