In the wake of Damian Lillard requesting a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers and his agent saying he only wants to play for the Miami Heat, one NBA writer has proposed a trade between the Blazers and Heat.
Dan Favale of Bleacher Report is proposing that the Heat, Blazers and San Antonio Spurs complete the following three-team trade:
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: Khem Birch, Nikola Jović, Doug McDermott, Duncan Robinson, Blake Wesley, Miami’s 2024 first-round pick* (unprotected), Chicago’s 2025 first-round pick (via San Antonio; top-10 protection), Miami’s 2028 first-round pick (unprotected); 2027 first-round swap (from Miami), Miami’s 2030 first-round pick (unprotected)
Miami Heat Receive: Damian Lillard
San Antonio Spurs: Tyler Herro
Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, believes the Blazers will eventually trade his client to the Heat. Lillard, one of the best players in the NBA, has demanded that Portland trade him to Miami.
Goodwin has reached out to teams not named the Heat, telling them not to trade for Lillard, who only wants to play for Miami so he can join forces with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. Lillard and Adebayo are very close friends and Butler told Pat Riley to do whatever it takes to get Lillard to South Beach.
Since Lillard doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract, the Blazers can trade the seven-time All-Star anywhere. However, the expectation around Lillard is that his insistence on Miami will discourage other teams from offering their best assets to try to acquire him from Portland.
NBA TRADES, NEWS & RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Miami Heat, Portland Trail Blazers & San Antonio Spurs Updates
Lillard averaged 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists last season. He believes he can finally compete for a championship with the Heat, who lost to the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 NBA Finals in five games.
Miami is 0-2 in the Finals since Butler came to Miami in 2019. The team is missing a superstar scorer and playmaker like Lillard, who has career averages of 25.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists.
NBA TRADES, NEWS & RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Miami Heat, Portland Trail Blazers & San Antonio Spurs Updates
Riley has been looking to acquire another superstar ever since LeBron James left the Heat in the summer of 2014. The Hall of Famer didn’t aggressively pursue Bradley Beal, who was traded to the Phoenix Suns by the Washington Wizards, because he wanted to save his assets for Lillard.
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