A new Damian Lillard report, from the offseason saga, is painting the Miami Heat in a terrible light.
The Damian Lillard trade saga is very much in the books. It's been decided for quite some time now and Lillard is beginning to hit his stride as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks. But the Miami Heat are still very much taking some serious public relations hits.
The Heat famously whiffed on Lillard during the offseason after it was reported that they were his lone desired landing spot. While it's been debated back and forth between being the Heat's fault for not pursuing Lillard aggressively enough vs. Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin simply refusing to do business with Miami, the end result is unchanged.
Lillard is not with the Heat, his preferred destination, and it's something that will end up being remembered as a bad moment for one of the most successful franchises in NBA history.
A new report has surfaced from what transpired during the offseason between the Heat, Blazers, and Lillard. Quite frankly, it does Miami no favors when it comes to winning the PR battle after the offseason.
Per longtime Heat writer Ethan Skolnick, there's a belief that the Heat were willing to give up more assets for Jrue Holiday (when he was being shopped) than they were for Lillard.
The Miami Heat's biggest offseason mistake
Assuming this report is true, this is certainly not a good look for the Heat. Lillard is easily one of the best point guards in the league. If the Heat was afraid of trading for him because of his contract or the fact that he struggles on defense, that's pretty weak.
The Heat is one piece away from being a true championship contender in the Eastern Conference. No matter what it would've, as long as Ba Adebayo and Jimmy Butler were on the roster, the Heat were going to be contenders in the East.
And not trading for Lillard because of those things makes it seem as if the Heat didn't believe they were as close to contention as perhaps many around the league believed. This is a decision that this front office may never live down.
Offer more for Holiday, if that is even true, makes their decision not to pursue Lillard as aggressively look even worse.
If the Heat never wins a title in the Jimmy build, this past offseason will be a big reason why.