As the NBA offseason slowly moves forward, there hasn’t been any progress made on a potential trade for Damian Lillard.
The Portland Trail Blazers star asked out earlier this summer after enduring years of mediocre play from his teammates, and he made it clear that the Miami Heat are the one team he wants to be sent to.
The Blazers are reportedly not engaging the Heat in talks, and perhaps they’re hoping that another team will swoop in and make an offer they deem satisfactory.
However, Brian Windhorst points out that other than Miami, there is no market for Lillard (via NBACentral).
The Miami Heat are the only team seriously pursuing Damian Lillard, per @WindhorstESPN
“As I look across the league and have conversations with executives and agents, I can't identify another team that is seriously making an offer for Damian Lillard at this point. My belief is… pic.twitter.com/8wKF1muGk3
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 1, 2023
Lillard has been one of the better guards in the NBA for a long time, and he is coming off his best statistical season in which he averaged 32.2 points and 7.3 assists a game.
But in his 11 seasons with the Blazers, they have made just one trip to the Western Conference Finals and have usually exited in the first round of the playoffs.
In the last two seasons, they haven’t even made it to the postseason, and they have gone with a youth movement that has virtually guaranteed they won’t be championship contenders anytime soon.
Lillard is one of the NBA’s deadliest players in crunch time, and at age 33, he deserves a legitimate shot at winning it all.
The Heat, who lost in the NBA Finals to the Denver Nuggets just weeks ago, represent his best path toward claiming a Larry O’Brien Trophy, and a potential trade there would be mutually beneficial for both parties.
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