It seems like the Miami Heat are all in on pursuing Portland Trail Blazers star guard Damian Lillard this offseason.
“Damian Lillard’s decision to give the Portland Trail Blazers more time to improve their roster hasn’t dissuaded the Heat,” wrote the Miami Herald‘s Barry Jackson. “According to multiple sources, the Heat has decided to wait patiently for Lillard to make a decision because they view him as a player worth waiting for.”
Lillard has been linked to the Heat for a while now, and it seems like the rumors connecting the two sides won’t be dying down anytime soon.
The seven-time All-Star reportedly has “serious interest” in joining the Heat, but he has yet to request a trade from the organization that drafted him with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski offered some comments about Lillard on Tuesday.
“I don’t get a sense there are a bunch of teams in the NBA that are putting off their free agency plans, their potential trade deals expecting Damian Lillard is going to be on the market,” he said. “An organization like Miami, where you see the natural fit there…they are watching it closer. Generally, business is going on as usual around the league. Teams expect Damian Lillard to be in Portland.”
The Heat don’t have much flexibility to make lots of big moves through free agency, as they already have tons of money tied up to a number of players. It’s important to note that the extension Tyler Herro signed last year is set to kick in during the 2023-24 season.
It’s easy to see why the Heat are interested in Lillard. He’s one of the league’s best scorers, an area the team needs tons of help in. This season, Lillard averaged 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game while knocking down 46.3 percent of his shots from the field and 37.1 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
That type of offensive production would undoubtedly help the Heat, who ranked last in the league in scoring this season at 109.5 points per game.
Lillard has already made it clear that he likes the idea of joining the Heat, and Jackson noted that there’s “hope around the Heat that Lillard eventually will ask for a trade.”
Miami made it all the way to the NBA Finals this season, losing to the Denver Nuggets in five games. Throughout the series, it became very clear that the team might be just one piece away from winning its first title since 2013.
Lillard might just be that missing piece, and only time will tell if he winds up in South Florida this offseason.