Big risk No. 1: Damian Lillard becomes open to another contender
If there’s one scenario that the Miami Heat would want to avoid over the course of the next few weeks, it’s one that involves Damian Lillard opening up his preferred destination list to other contenders. One of the greatest factors that the Heat has going for them in their pursuit of Lillard is the fact that it’s well-known that he only wants to play for the Heat and no other team. If nothing else, that’s something that has become pretty clear over the last couple of weeks.
However, the Heat’s upper hand – if that’s what you want to call what they currently have – would significantly diminish if other contenders were brought in as teams Lillard would be willing to play for. Miami, for all its draw as a franchise, doesn’t have many tangible assets that would allow them to outbid many other teams.
If a team like the Boston Celtics or even the Philadelphia 76ers entered the proverbial bidding war for Lillard, there’s no certainty the Heat would be able to emerge as winners.