NBA Rumors: A recent report suggests that the Miami Heat is essentially ‘daring’ the Portland Trail Blazers to find a better offer for Damian Lillard.
Over the last few days, it’s almost impossible to not recognize the urgency that is in the air regarding Damian Lillard. At least to some extent, the Portland Trail Blazers are trying to find the right deal for Lillard. Whether or not they’re trying to appease him in the process remains to be seen.
However, at least for now, one of the most consistent reports has been that the Miami Heat has been the most interested team thus far. The big question is if that has changed in the last few days. Because that’s kind of what Miami is betting against.
According to a recent report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Heat is basically “daring” the Blazers to find a better offer out there than the one they’ve assembled.
The Miami Heat are playing an extremely risky game
Pat Riley and the Heat are playing an extremely risky game of chicken. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. It’s kind of why the reason has been so successful over the last few decades. While they haven’t been able to come out on top every time, the fact that they’re willing to even play this risky of a game in the first place is a big reason why they’re in this position at the moment.
And if there is no other real threat for Lillard on the open market, it would make sense for the Heat to continue to play this game of chicken with their offer. Why should they bid against themselves? Again, this could all backfire if one team decides to go all-in on Lillard and the Blazers don’t give the Heat the opportunity to counter.
That could very well happen. Clearly, the Heat isn’t betting on that. They’re betting that the Blazers are going to A) want to do right by Lillard and B) that no other team is legitimately interested in making an all-in offer on Lillard.
Less than two weeks before the start of training camp, we’re getting into the nitty-gritty here. If the Blazers want to trade Lillard before the start of the season, it almost has to happen in the next couple of weeks. In fairness, the same could be said about the Heat. If they want Lillard in camp before the start of the season, they need to make their best offer soon.
The Lillard saga could very well come down to which side blinks first. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess as to how this will all end.