Blazers’ Damian Lillard Remains Adamant About Trade to Heat

For Damian Lillard, it apparently remains Miami or bust.

Yes, the All-Star guard requested a trade from the Trail Blazers last week, and yes, the Heat are the only team on his radar.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, Lillard continues to be “very adamant” that the Heat are the only team for which he wishes to play.

Meanwhile, the Blazers appear to be quite determined to trade Lillard only to the rival team that offers them the best deal. They reportedly are unconcerned with where Lillard desires to play next.

Just the opposite. It appears the Blazers don’t intend to cooperate with Lillard or his preference on his next destination.

So as of now, Miami has no clear advantage in Lillard trade talks, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Blazers GM Joe Cronin suggested as much in a statement last week.

“We have been clear that we want Dame here but he notified us today he wants out and he’d prefer to play someplace else. What has not changed for us is that we’re committed to winning, and we are going to do what’s best for the team in pursuit of that goal,” Cronin said.

One thing that is pretty clear is that the Heat are reportedly all in on Lillard.

“Put it this way, they basically have loaded up one of those PODS dumpsters in front of the Trail Blazers and said, ‘Take anyone out of here you want besides Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler,’” Winderman said on NBA TV. “Maybe they’ll go back and forth on Caleb Martin a little, but it’s basically, sort of, ‘Come and pick and choose. Tell us what you want. Anything else is yours.’

“The Heat are all-in on this. This is their moment. There’s a reason they didn’t go hard after Bradley Beal. There’s a reason they held off on some other moves. This is their play.”

Reports suggest it may take a three- or even four-team trade for Lillard to end up with the Heat and for the Blazers to receive the type of package they seek in return.