Big risk No. 3: Damian Lillard moves off trade demand
If there’s a potential worst-case scenario outcome for the Miami Heat when it comes to the Damian Lillard situation, it involves him moving off his trade demand if/when he would come to the realization that the Portland Trail Blazers don’t want to trade him to his preferred landing spot. In that event, Lillard won’t want to request a trade anywhere else so he just decided to remain with the Blazers in hopes that Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe can develop both quickly and effectively.
If that were to happen, the Heat would find themselves back at square one. They would also be in an even worse position than last offseason after losing both Max Strus and Gabe Vincent this time around. As much as the Heat outperformed their expectations in the postseason this past year, the Heat was still a Play-In Tournament team.
It would be hard to imagine this team finishing any higher in the East after losing two key contributors.
It’s pretty clear that the Heat is officially all-in on Lillard. If they emerge from the offseason without him, it will be a failed summer.