Blazers’ Willingness to Deal Damian Lillard to Heat Remains a Mystery

UPDATE: Lillard is being traded to the Bucks. Full story.

Well, we now have less than a week before the Trail Blazers open training camp. And you guessed it, Damian Lillard is still on the roster.

And worse for Lillard, he’s not yet a member of the Heat — is demanded destination. Of course, we are hearing the Raptors have interest. So might the Bucks, 76ers, Celtics and Bulls.

But Lillard wants the Heat and the Heat want Lillard. What we don’t know is if the Blazers will actually send him to Miami, or to another team that might send him to Miami. 

As Zach Lowe of ESPN suggested, we really don’t know anything.

“The biggest mystery around the league … is are the Blazers really going to just cut Miami out of this?” Lowe asked, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “Are they not going to re-engage with the Heat at the last minute? No one really knows the answer … other than the top people on the Blazers and they’re not telling.”

Lowe speaks the truth. So does Blazers GM Joe Cronin, who promised a Lillard deal was likely to “take months.” That was back in July. Well, it is indeed months later. A lot has happened on social media — but nothing in real life.

Lillard is still in Portland. The Heat are still without Lillard. And we have no idea if any of that will actually change anytime soon.

As one rival GM told Hoops Wire, “I’m starting to think Lillard won’t be traded until after (76ers guard) James Harden, man.”