The Miami Heat appears to be perfectly fine waiting out for Damian Lillard. But in doing so, they are making three big risks.
Two weeks ago when Damian Lillard demanded a trade away from the Portland Trail Blazers and to the Miami Heat, it seemed as if the latter was going to get the steal of the decade. However, the Blazers and general manager Joe Cronin has not made it that easy for Miami.
From all indications, it seems that the Blazers are adamant in trying to make this a league-wide bidding war for Lillard. That hasn’t materialized for Cronin and the Blazers, but that seems to be the plan as there hasn’t been much progress on a potential trade.
The latest update on Damian Lillard is no update
There hasn’t been much movement on a possible Lillard trade between the Blazers or Heat in the last two weeks, nor has there been another team that has made a substantial trade offer – that would’ve been something reported. It simply hasn’t been. In fact, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski recently reported that the next deadline for both the Heat and Blazers is the start of training camp.
It seems that the Heat is intent on waiting for the Blazers out instead of upping their trade offer for Lillard. If that is indeed the case, that tactic certainly comes with its risks. As the Heat prepare to dig in and continue this game of chicken with the Blazers, we explore three of the bigger risks that Miami is electing to take in hopes of landing Lillard on their terms.