The Miami Heat continue to look for ways to land Damian Lillard. The disgruntled All-Star has let it be known around the NBA that he wants to play in South Beach and no place else.
That has been a controversial stance, and even league Commissioner Adam Silver threatened to enforce discipline or veto any potential trade if something odd happened there.
Even so, the Heat have yet to convince the Portland Trail Blazers to engage in serious trade talks with them. And according to Heat insider Ira Winderman, they may not have the assets to do it at all.
Heat Won’t Give Up, But They Can’t Offer More
“The reasons you make trades are twofold,” Winderman wrote. “The first reason is to upgrade your core in a win-now setting. The other is to set up your future. With Jimmy Butler to turn 34 before the start of the coming season, the Heat are in that first, win-now category. So you start here: To win right now, is Damian Lillard an upgrade on Tyler Herro for the 2023-24 season? I believe most would agree. Then you look at having to shed other pieces and the impact on your core.”
“The Heat have already shown they can win without Duncan Robinson, albeit a Max Strus replacement would be needed out of the developmental program,” the insider continued. “And it’s not as if Nikola Jovic is weeks, months or even a season away from being a rotation player for a championship contender.”
“So part with those four plus a pick or two (or three) and you basically have done little to damage your core. Now, when you get to Caleb Martin or a ready-now Jaime Jaquez Jr., that is when you would take pause. So you can give up a lot. What you can’t give up is too much,” he concluded.
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So, where or when will the Heat draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough? At this point, it doesn’t seem like the Blazers want to do business with them at all.
