SO SAD: The Miami Heat and their star player are at odds.

You should proceed with caution when interpreting any information from the South Beach media about the Miami

Heat’s futile attempt to sign Damian Lillard.

Prominent local reporters consistently asserted they knew of no better trade package for Lillard than the one Miami

was offering the Portland Trail Blazers, which made it difficult for them to cover the league’s longest-running

offseason narrative objectively. A few even maintained that Portland was conducting trade talks in bad faith, both

prior to and following the Milwaukee Bucks’ shocking trade for Damian Lillard right before training camp.

Naturally, Lillard wasn’t the first All-NBA guard to switch teams in the course of his Milwaukee deal. Jrue Holiday

was traded by the Bucks to the Blazers, who promptly moved him to the

The fact that Portland and Miami were at odds over Lillard’s trade negotiations is said to have contributed to the

teams’ failure to hold meaningful discussions regarding a potential deal for Holiday. The Blazers seem to have lost

more ground as a result of the communication breakdown than first thought, though.

Ethan Skolnick of 5 Reasons Sports claims that the Heat would have been prepared to give Portland more assets in

exchange for Holiday than they finally did for Lillard.

“Jrue has a more amiable contract. According to NBA Central, Skolnick stated in a recent discussion that “the Heat

don’t believe that Dame does; he plays defense, which the Heat value.”

Are the Heat releasing dubious information about the botched Damian Lillard trade?

It doesn’t really matter whether Miami would have offered a larger trade package for Holiday than they did for

Lillard. However, Lillard made far more sense as an all-in trade target than Holiday, given that offensive dynamism

and firepower were the Heat’s Achilles’ heals during their underdog run to the 2022 NBA Finals.

Although Holiday, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo would lead an absolutely great squad defensively, they would

also lack the volume three-point shooting and reliable floor-bending skills that have plagued Miami in the

postseason the past few years at the highest levels. When Holiday chooses to opt out of his current contract, he will

sign a new one that will not be as large as Lillard’s, but it will still have

Following another local media source’s story stating that certain league decision-makers would rather have star

rookie Jaime Jaquez on their team than Lillard, came Skolnick’s report. In a similar vein, reports of the Heat’s

purportedly exaggerated interest in trading for Lillard surfaced precisely when it became clear the Blazers would not

allow him to move to South Beach. Following Lillard’s acquisition by the Bucks, more reports appeared that

suggested the same thing.

The 11-9 Heat have far more pressing concerns at the moment than the public’s enduring impression of their

unsuccessful pursuit of Lillard. Ask Butler.

“After Miami’s loss to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, we stand where we don’t want to be—which is very mediocre,

not good, not bad, not great,” he remarked. “Our

Maybe the reason the front office is so determined to keep bringing up Lillard in an unpleasant way is to divert

attention from his mediocrity and absolve itself of responsibility for not bringing him in. One thing is certain: The

Heat will have a greater chance of turning things around as 2023–24 progresses if they don’t look back on a difficult

summer.

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