During a break at his fifth annual youth basketball clinic at SLAM Miami Charter School on August 5, Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo talked to NBA reporters about Damian Lillard, who has requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers.
Lillard only wants to get traded to the Heat because he’s close friends with Adebayo and believes he can win an NBA championship in Miami playing alongside Jimmy Butler and Adebayo.
“Demeanor,” Adebayo said when asked why he and Lillard became so close during their Olympic experience. “How he walks, how he talks, how he presents himself, we have a lot of those similar characteristics. Dame isn’t the loudest person. I’m not the loudest person. We’re two down to earth people that gelled well in the Olympics.”
Despite Lillard’s request to be traded to the Heat last month, a deal to land him in Miami is not considered imminent since the Blazers have not been impressed by the Heat’s offers for their superstar point guard.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Bam Adebayo, Portland Trail Blazers & Miami Heat Updates
Lillard averaged 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists last NBA season for the Blazers. He will make $46.6 million next season. The future Hall of Famer signed a two-year, $121.8 million extension with Portland in July 2022.
“I can’t answer them right now because I don’t know what’s about to happen,” Adebayo told NBA reporters about Lillard requesting a trade to the Heat. “But the biggest thing is business. Everybody wants it to make sense. Everybody on their side wants it to make sense. Obviously, other sides want it to make sense, too. So I feel like it’s just a waiting game until they reach an agreement, if or when it does happen.”
There remains no shift in Lillard’s mindset and his goal of playing for the Heat in the wake of the NBA’s initiative to warn Lillard and his agent that any further comments made “suggesting Lillard will not fully perform the services called for under his player contract in the event of a trade” will be subject to NBA discipline.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Bam Adebayo, Portland Trail Blazers & Miami Heat Updates
Miami has been working on a trade package for Lillard made up of expiring contracts, three to four first-round picks and one of the team’s younger players, with Tyler Herro going to a third team. The deal could potentially also involve second-rounders and draft pick swaps, according to NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic.
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