After years of standing the Portland Trail Blazers‘ struggles, Damian Lillard has had enough. The guard may see in the Miami Heat a great opportunity to win his first NBA championship, which is why he requested a trade.
Talking to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Lillard confirmed he submitted a trade request this offseason, “I can say that there was [a trade request] and I would just prefer not to speak on the Trail Blazers.”
It makes sense, since Dame is already 33 and he cannot keep on waiting for the Blazers to build a true supporting cast around him. But apart from having a great shot at winning his first ring, there seem to be many other reasons why he’s keen on Miami.
Why does Lillard want to play for Miami?
“Sources say Lillard is also attracted to the renowned ‘Heat Culture,’ consistent winning at a high level, franchise stability, no state taxes and marketing opportunities,” Spears reports.
Miami has shown how far its trademark Heat Culture is capable of taking the team, but it still seems to need another star to get the job done. With Lillard, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, we would have a serious contender here.
Damian Lillard admits he’s hungry for an NBA championship
“It’s higher than it’s ever been,” Lillard told Speas when asked about his desire to win his first ring. “When you’re younger and you’re winning, you realize that you got time. When you establish yourself in the league and you know that you’re here to stay, you feel like you have time. The older you get, that just means more time that you’ve put into it, especially when you’re at the top of the game and you’re having all these individual accomplishments, it becomes more and more of a priority to have the ultimate accomplishment, which is why we play the game, in winning the championship.
“I would say the desire for that now is as high as it’s probably going to be. That’s literally the thing at the top of my list. When I wake up and I got to get up and go do what I got to do, I got to train, I got to make time for my kids, I still got to lift, I got to do all these things and I got to make sure that training and the preparation is still my priority. Even with being a father of three now, not one, and having all these other responsibilities, you need something that you feel pretty strong about to stay committed the way I’ve been committed. It’s as high as it’s going to get. That’s ultimately what I want to experience and that’s what I want to get done.“
Since Lillard is looking for an elusive ring and the Heat seem to be just another star away from getting to the promised land, this would be a match made in heaven. Only time will tell whether this deal finally comes to fruition.
