If the Portland Trail Blazers trade Damian Lillard to a team other than the Miami Heat, the seven-time All-Star is expected to ask his new team to trade him to the Heat, according to NBA insiders Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.
The Blazers continue to be reluctant to engage the Heat in serious talks for Lillard, who only wants to play for Miami. Portland has been aggressive in pursuing multi-team Lillard trade scenarios, according to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
“Portland is trying to put together a number of multi-team scenarios to see if they can get the assets back that they want in a trade for Damian Lillard,” Wojnarowski said. “They have been more aggressive here in the last few weeks only because the league started up again. Labor Day comes, teams are engaging again. I do think they’re engaging. The question is do they find a deal here in the next couple of weeks or do they have to bring Lillard back to camp?”
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Miami Heat, Portland Trail Blazers Updates
Lillard is close friends with Heat center Bam Adebayo and believes he can win an NBA championship in Miami playing alongside Jimmy Butler and Adebayo. The Heat have been working on a trade package for Lillard 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.
Lillard requested to be traded from the Blazers to only the Heat on July 1. He has spent all 11 seasons of his NBA career with Portland, which selected him with the sixth pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. The Blazers finished 33-49 and 13th in the Western Conference last season.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Damian Lillard, Miami Heat, Portland Trail Blazers Updates
Lillard averaged 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists last 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.
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