As of earlier this week, the Trail Blazers still hadn’t shown any interest in trading Damian Lillard to the Heat, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).
Jackson’s report isn’t surprising, particularly during one of the slowest periods of the league year. Perhaps Portland will be more motivated to entertain Lillard deals once we get closer to training camp, considering his presence would almost certainly cause a media circus.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Center Bam Adebayo, who has been named to the All-Defensive Second Team each of the past four seasons, reiterated his desire to win Defensive Player of the Year in an interview with Playmaker (YouTube link). “It takes a will, it takes an effort, a sacrifice, I mean just a mentality to really put your body on the line to really go through that,” Adebayo said. The 26-year-old has discussed the award multiple times in the past.
- In a subscriber-only mailbag for The South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman wonders if Miami will eventually try to bring Dwyane Wade back into the fold in an official capacity. The Heat legend, who was a 13-time All-Star and three-time champion with the team, was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame, but he currently owns a minority stake in the Jazz.
- After a series of minor transactions last week, the Heat have now reached the offseason maximum of 21 players on the roster. However, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes, despite the roster being full at the moment, there is still plenty of uncertainty about which players will be on the roster going forward due to the Lillard situation.
Well the annoying ass hell, year long campaign by Embiid and surrogates for MVP paid dividends for him last season. Why not one for Bam for DPY?
Embid is a better mvp choice than bam is as dpy. Easily.
Adebayo has been constantly campaigning for DPOY for the last two seasons and he has been been just as vocal about it as Embiid was about MVP. Adebayo just doesn’t have as much of the spotlight on him as Embiid.
Although I will say that I have no problem with Embiid winning it last season he had a great season and Jokic got the MVP that matters since he already had two regular season MVPs.
Trade Lillard right away
Make it easy
Heat need to prepare a centerpiece or current all- star from the third team
This is not Blazers job, it’s Heat job
Lowry or Herro is overpaid
Blazers don’t want either of them
Wade is a sick person
I guess in the world Riley’s media sycophants, like Jackson, it’s all about POR “still” not showing any interest in dealing Lillard to MIA. Truth is that POR gave MIA, and others, it’s parameters, and there “still” hasn’t been a reported offer from MIA or anyone else that even begins to meet them. Any media circus is of MIA’s and Lillard’s making, and, in any event, avoiding a media circus is never a reason to make a significant trade for a subpar package.
The Blazers and the association have been shopping Lillard since the all-star break last year. They will trade him before the season starts unless he is willing to play 2 and allow Scoot to run the O, and that’s not likely. Pretty sure Lillard will end up wherever the association decides they can best market him. Sadly Lillard is more interested in his rap than playing ball! I have been a basketball fan since John Wooden (UCLA) had Kareem (Lou Alcindor) and then Bill Walton, they had their 88 game winning streak snapped by the Ronnie Lee and the Kamikaze kids at the university of Oregon. Most Blazers fans can’t wait for the youth to take over this team with energy that Lillard lacks. He (Dame) seems to hate running the break, maybe because of his battle with plantar fasciitis year after year? But this young group can fly and bring the enthusiasm back to RIP City, as soon as he’s out of town. Wherever he ends up he is going to have to finally learn winning is about the name on the front of his jersey, not the back! Enough of the selfish ISO hero ball, bring on the young and unselfish hustle Lillard has lost. Thanks for the memories Dame but it’s now “TEAM-Time”
Just FYI: UCLA’s 88 game winning streak was broken by Notre Dame in South Bend.
What a doof! Wrote all of that nonsense and doesn’t even know which team ended UCLA’s streak. Go read a book.
You might be a doof for reading it through? sometimes when you turn 63, you might get your memories of streaks from 40+ years ago mixed up too! My apologies for putting you through such pain. go blazers!!!
That would be ND beating the Bruins 71-70. And that has invalidated everything else you said
My apologies it was UCLA’s 98 game home winning streak that the kamikaze kids broke. Here is an excerpt from the story: One of those losses came on Saturday, February 16th, 1974. when the Kamikaze Kids handed UCLA one of their two losses on the season, 56-51. The sold-out crowd brought Mac Court literally to life, because if the crowd was stomping or banging chairs then everything would sway – baskets, scoreboard, you name it. From these Harter years on, The Pit would become the place where a victory from any top team was not assured – it was that difficult to play there.
Oregon’s other defeat of #1 UCLA happened on February 21, 1976, when the Kids beat UCLA in LA by a whopping 20 points, 65-45, and ended the Bruins 98-game home win streak at Pauley Pavilion. Coincidentally, UCLA also lost only two games that season, with one of them being at the hands of the Kamikaze Kids.