The Miami Heatfailed to win the NBA championship, mainly because they ran out of gas and werenāt as talented as the Denver Nuggets. Jimmy Butler could only carry them so much.
They were reportedly interested in Bradley Beal. However, they later ruled themselves out of his sweepstakes and gave the Phoenix Suns a clear path to trade for him.
Notably, according to Heat beat writer Ira Winderman, that was all because Pat Riley had set his sight on a bigger prize for the offseason, which happens to be Damian Lillard.
NBA Rumors: Heat Want To Trade For Damian Lillard
āNow the question is whether Pat Riley and the Heat front office hedged their pursuit of Beal because of a greater focus on potentially landing Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard,ā Winderman reported.
āAsked about the Heatās approach with Beal, a party familiar with the talks on Sunday told the South Florida Sun Sentinel to āthink bigger,'ā he added.
Lillard has already expressed his desire to join the Heat if traded by the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Heat could offer up to three first-round picks and Tyler Herro at least, so letās see if Riley can work his magic again this time.
