Heat May Pursue Trade for Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard

If Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard were to become available, you can count the Heat among the teams that would have an interest, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

Right now, there are only whispers that the Blazers will float Lillard’s name in trade offers this summer, and also only speculation that he may want out.

Also right now, the Heat lead their Eastern Conference playoffs series over the Bucks by a 3-1 count. So they have other things on their minds.

But trade season is nearly here again, and Lillard’s name is already being mentioned on the rumor mill.

“I think the Heat are on the cusp of looking for another star maneuver,” Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast, via RealGM. “I would put them on the list for Dame Lillard if Dame ends up getting traded. If he goes to market, I think the Heat are on that list. I don’t know if they have enough.

“A lot of their offer would be built around Tyler Herro, who was just injured. I suspect, I don’t know for sure, just to be clear, I don’t know for sure if they’re going to offer him, but I suspect that would be the type of thing. That and draft picks.”

Lillard, 32, averaged a career-high 32.2 points and tied his career-high with 46 percent shooting in 58 games this season. He also passed for 7.3 assists and grabbed 4.8 rebounds, shooting 37 percent on 3-pointers.

Again, neither he nor the Trail Blazers have given any official indication that they intend to part ways. But rival teams are closely monitoring, given that Portland has not had much success since firing coach Terry Stotts — who led the Blazers to eight straight playoff appearances.

Meanwhile, the Heat would undoubtedly like to add another All-Star next to Jimmy Butler. They are expected to try to do so all summer, whether it’s Lillard or someone else.