NBA Trade Rumors: At least for now, the Miami Heat remain to be the team “most motivated” that is pursuing Damian Lillard.
From all indications, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Miami Heat are at an impasse. Damian Lillard has demanded a trade and wants to be in Miami. However, the Blazers don’t seem ready to “settle” for what the Heat is offering. At this point, considering it’s been almost a month since Lillard demanded a trade, you’d have to imagine that something will have to change if there’s going to be a “win-win” resolution for all parties.
And the most recent update is pretty much what is already known, and not much else added to it. What does that mean? Who knows but we can try to read before the lines.
The latest update from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is that the Heat seems to be the team most motivated to land Lillard. Whether or not it will happen, or when it could happen, remains to be seen. But, at least according to Woj, the Heat still seems to be the leader in the clubhouse to acquire Dame.
“Miami’s not going to bid against itself and keep upping its offer when it doesn’t think Portland necessarily has anything comparable.” - (via @wojespn)pic.twitter.com/uCp69laDgi
— Miami Heat Beat (We Just Cover The Team) (@miaheatbeat) July 31, 2023
This news is not surprising but is interesting considering Woj didn’t note the possibility of other teams joining the pursuit of Lillard after the NBA released a memo regarding the superstar’s rumored stance on “Heat or bust.”
At least in my opinion, it would’ve been interesting to hear whether there was another team, potentially even a “dark horse” that would emerge as a potential suitor for Lillard. That didn’t seem part of the heart of the update from Woj.
He did throw in at the end that another team “may or may not” enter the fray to outbid the Heat, but didn’t seem too confident in that possibility.
As we enter the month of August or the dog days of the NBA offseason, the Heat and Blazers continue to do this song and dance. If things continue to trend in this direction, it could be a matter of both sides meeting in the middle.
Who knows if or when that may happen, though? As Woj reiterated, the next deadline for Lillard, the Heat, and Blazers appears to be the start of training camp. If that’s so, we could b waiting a very long time before we see any type of resolution between Lillard and the Blazers.