Well, it finally happened. After more than a decade of shortcomings, back and forth, and countless NBA trade rumors, Damian Lillard has formally asked out of the Portland Trail Blazers.
This came after the Blazers failed to put together a competitive squad again, using their two first-round picks to land stellar prospects Scoot Henderson and Kris Murray instead.
Moreover, Lillard has made it known that he wants to play for the Miami Heat. With that in mind, Chris Haynes revealed the best offer Pat Rileyās team could make right now.
NBA Rumors: Miami Heatās Offer Might Not Be Enough For Lillard
āMiami has been waiting for this domino to fall and will quickly engage with Portland in trying to get a deal done, sources say,ā Haynes reported. āHeat star Jimmy Butler has relayed to the team that Lillard is his No. 1 target, sources say.ā
āThe Heat are prepared to offer a package centered around Tyler Herro, with possibly Duncan Robinson and picks, sources say. The Heat would prefer to keep Caleb Martin out of any trade scenarios,ā added Haynes.
Blazers Wonāt Do Them Any Favors
Needless to say, that offer is far from the best the team could get for a player of Lillardās caliber. And according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Blazers wonāt do Lillard any favors:
āThey had prepared for the possibility that a trade request would come from Damian Lillard, but their reaction simply is theyāre going to go out into the marketplace and find the best deal they can for Portland,ā Woj reported. āAnd while he would like to play for the Miami Heat, itās not going to be a concern of the Portland Trail Blazers.ā
see also
NBA News: Damian Lillard gets in Twitter controversy with Blazers" fans
One would think that the franchise would look to do right by him after all heās done for the organization. Then again, this is a business, and he doesnāt have a no-trade clause, so itās only normal that the franchise will do whatās best for them.
