NBA Trade Rumors: Blazers trending toward moving Lillard to a non-Heat team?

Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin (Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports)
Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin (Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports) /
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NBA Rumors: It’s beginning to seem as if the Portland Trail Blazers are trending toward trading Damian Lillard to a non-Miami Heat team.

Damian Lillard wants to be traded to the Miami Heat. Right now, that doesn’t appear to be happening. As trade talks for Lillard intensify, the Blazers and Heat have reportedly not had much, if any, communication on a potential deal. That means if Lillard talks are intensifying, the Blazers have to be seriously weighing the option of trading him to a non-Heat team.

Assuming that the Blazers want to move Lillard before the start of training camp, this is not good news for the Heat’s prospects of landing the superstar guard.

It’s quickly becoming clear that the Heat and Blazers need to have a “good faith” conversation if they’re going to be able to hammer things out. Because if things remain how they’re currently trending, there’s a very good chance Lillard ends up being traded to a non-Heat team.

How will the Damian Lillard trade saga end?

At this point, with how much is unknown about this entire situation, it’s impossible to predict how this trade saga will end. Well, that’s false. We do know that Lillard will be traded at some point but there’s no clear idea of where he’s going to end up. At least for now, unless something changes, it’s become pretty clear that the Blazers don’t really want to trade Lillard to the Heat.

Portland has a specific asking price for Lillard and Miami can’t meet it, or so it seems. The big question is whether there’s another team out there that will be willing to meet their demands. Even though there are reports of Lillard trade talks intensifying, it’s no foregone conclusion that a team out there is willing to step up in a way where Portland will trade him to a place that isn’t his preferred landing spot.

It’s almost impossible to know what’s true and what isn’t. From everything that has been reported, which is all we can go by, it seems like the Blazers are perfectly fine with trading Lillard to a non-Heat team.

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The question is, will Miami pony up to prevent that from happening or did they just lose the biggest high-stakes game of chicken to the Blazers? Hopefully, we find out sooner rather than later.