Damian Lillard wants to be the final piece of the Heat's championship puzzle - "He wants to compete with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo"
Damian Lillard has asked the Portland Trailblazers for a trade after 11 years. There is no shortage of teams that would like to land Lillard, including but not limited to the Philadelphia 76ers, LA Clippers, Utah Jazz, LA Lakers, and San Antonio Spurs. However, Lillard has reportedly made it known that he would like to play for the Miami Heat.
Sam Amick, a senior NBA writer, reported that Lillard's stance on the trade is a Heat-or-bust. Lillard reportedly wants to be the final piece of the puzzle for the Miami Heat and help them win a championship. Here is what Amick had to say:
“He wants to compete with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, to grow inside that famed 'Heat culture' system under Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra while becoming the final piece to their championship puzzle.”
Damian Lillard is prepared to only play for the Miami Heat and his stance is Heat-or-bust, per @sam_amick
“He wants to compete with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, to grow inside that famed 'Heat culture' system under Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra while becoming the final piece to… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/350tP9A6qJ
This is in line with a recent interview that Damian Lillard was a part of. When Lillard was asked about a hypothetical scenario where he could play for any team, Lillard picked the Miami Heat as the obvious option.
The Miami Heat reached the NBA Finals and lost to the Denver Nuggets in six games. In a somewhat close series, the Heat seemed to run out of talent and scoring. Lillard being the prolific scorer that he is could be the solution to the Heat's two failed NBA Finals appearances in the recent NBA history.
Here is what Lillard had to say about joining the Miami Heat:
"Miami is the obvious one. Bam [Adebayo] is my dog. Bam is my dog for real. But I mean I think Miami is the obvious one."
Here is the video where Lillard speaks about a potential trade to Miami at the 49:00 minute mark:
Lillard, at the time, said that when the next season tips off, he would still be a part of the Portland Trailblazers. It is unclear whether Lillard said this because he was not planning on asking for a trade or whether it was because he thought that the Trailblazers would not trade him regardless of his request.
That said, Lillard asking for a trade was the first step in what could potentially be the biggest story of this offseason.
Will the Portland Trailblazers trade Damian Lillard?
It is unclear if, when, and how Damian Lillard's trade request will play out. Here is what the Portland Trailblazers general manager Joe Cronin had to say on the matter:
“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.”
While Cronin acknowledged Lillard's request, he did not make clear if the Trailblazers will honor and facilitate it. That said, in modern NBA history, once a player requests a trade, the players have been pretty successful in forcing their way out.
As far as the Damian Lillard situation is concerned, it remains to be seen how it will play out. As of yet, we do not know if "committed to winning" means that Portland might not trade Lillard or if it means that they will look to get the best trade package whether it's from Miami or some other team.
If Portland does trade Lillard to Miami, it wouldn't be a surprise to see a third team involved in the trade as well. There will be more clarity on the situation as more details are reported over the upcoming days and weeks.