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Community Shootaround: Which Non-Heat Team Should Pursue Lillard?

August 2nd, 2023 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

We’re now more than a month removed from Damian Lillard‘s trade request, which he submitted on July 1, and the Trail Blazers don’t appear to be much closer to moving the star guard today than they were at that time.

Lillard’s insistence that he only wants to play for the Heat has limited his market, as have the four years and $216MM left on his contract, which has reportedly made teams wary about giving up a significant package for him.

The Blazers are essentially stuck at an impasse, apparently “disinclined” to seriously engage with the Heat but also without any other viable options available to them for the time being, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during an NBA Today appearance on Tuesday (YouTube link).

“As I look across the league and have conversations with executives and agents, I can’t identify another team that is seriously making an offer for Dame Lillard at this point,” Windhorst said. “And so my belief is that the Heat can’t either.

“And so while people can look at what the Heat’s offer might be and scoff at it, if their offer is the only one on the table, it therefore is the best one on the table. And the fact that Portland isn’t going forward with anything is a verification of that, that they don’t have another offer. So, very low incentive for the Heat to improve their offer at this point, and no incentive really right now for Portland to take that offer. And we have a stare-down.”

As ESPN’s Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski have said, and as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald reiterates, Miami has no desire to bid against itself in an effort to bring Portland back to the negotiating table, but remains hopeful that the Blazers will be willing to reopen those conversations at some point in the coming weeks.

A veteran assistant coach who spoke to Jackson suggests that the Heat and Blazers both have some incentive to try to get something done before the regular season begins. If Miami is going to acquire Lillard, the assistant observes, the team would prefer to do it sooner rather than later in order to begin establishing chemistry with its new-look roster following the loss of guards Gabe Vincent and Max Strus. Portland, meanwhile, would presumably like to have a clean slate to begin the 2023/24 season rather than keeping a disgruntled star on the roster and remaining in a holding pattern.

The clearest way for the negotiations to move forward would be for a second suitor besides the Heat to emerge as a serious contender for Lillard. Even if the Blazers don’t ultimately make a deal with that non-Heat team, the presence of another bidder could help push Miami to increase its offer to the point that Portland would be more willing to seriously consider it.

So our Community Shootaround question for today is this: Which non-Heat team makes the most sense as a suitor for Lillard?

The team would presumably have to meet a few criteria.

It would need to have the young player(s) and/or draft picks necessary to put together a strong offer for Lillard, as well as a strong enough core to seriously contend for a title after giving up several assets to land the veteran guard.

It would need to be comfortable with the idea of paying Lillard $60MM+ per year in 2025/26 and ’26/27.

And it would need to be confident in its leaders and culture to sell the seven-time All-Star on embracing a new NBA home somewhere besides Miami.

What do you think? Which non-Heat team is the best bet – or the most logical candidate – to emerge as a contender for Lillard? Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Latest On Damian Lillard

August 1st, 2023 at 11:09am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Trail Blazers remain “disinclined” to engage with the Heat about a potential trade package to send Damian Lillard to Miami, according to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson (Twitter link), who says that Portland is “acting disinterested” in dealing the star guard to the Heat.

Jackson’s update comes on the heels of a TV appearance by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski in which he reported that there has been little traction on a deal involving Lillard with Miami or any other team. According to Wojnarowski, the biggest impediment to a deal is Lillard’s contract — he’s due $45.6MM in 2023/24 and will make an average of $60MM in the final two years of his four-year deal — rather than his desire to end up in Miami.

Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Shams Charania hears that the Heat are preparing an offer for Lillard that would include three or four first round picks going to Portland. According to Charania, the framework of a potential Lillard-to-Miami deal would involve the aforementioned picks, expiring contracts, at least one young player, and Tyler Herro being re-routed to a third team, as well as possibly pick swaps and second-round picks.

The Heat only have one expiring contract with a significant salary, Kyle Lowry‘s $29.7MM deal. Miami’s 2023 first round selection Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic fit the bill for young players who could interest Portland.

Miami is currently ineligible to trade more than two of its own future first-round picks due to the Stepien rule, but there are scenarios in which the club could free up an extra first-rounder or two — a third team that acquires Herro may also be willing to send a first-round pick to Portland.

All of this reporting comes in the wake of a July 28 memo sent out by the league warning Lillard and his agent, Aaron Goodwin, about discouraging non-Heat teams from pursuing the seven-time All-Star.

Portland general manager Joe Cronin is clearly in no rush to send one of the best players in franchise history away, especially if Miami’s package isn’t strong enough. With training camp just under two months away, Cronin could opt to hold Lillard until the last minute or, if nothing comes to fruition, could even hold him into the season. As Jackson notes (Twitter link), it took two other recent prominent trade demands (Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis) around seven months to be moved following their requests.

On the other hand, if Lillard and his camp continue to make things uncomfortable, you’d think Cronin would begin to become more receptive to Miami’s offers. The Heat lost key contributors from their 2023 Finals roster in free agency and haven’t been able to add many other players from this year’s free agent class due to not knowing how many roster spots will be up for grabs if a Lillard trade occurs. In other words, the Heat’s push for Lillard could get more urgent, allowing the Blazers to extract more value. If Cronin wants more picks, the Heat could look to trade pieces like Caleb Martin for assets, for example.

Regardless, it doesn’t appear as though anything on the Lillard trade front is imminent or even close to it, at this point.

Love's Role Could Fluctuate Next Season

July 31st, 2023 at 9:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bam Adebayo believes the Heat simply wore down during their long postseason run, he told Leonard Solms in an ESPN story. “I feel like we just came up short because we had [among the most] injuries in the 2022-23 season. [Through] all those ups and downs throughout the season… I feel like fatigue had a toll,” he said of the Finals loss to the Nuggets.
Kevin Love‘s role with the Heat could fluctuate next season, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel opines. Love could start against bigger front lines with Caleb Martin starting against small-ball lineups, provided Martin isn’t dealt. Love could also see some action as the backup center. However, Winderman notes that coach Erik Spoelstra prefers continuity during the regular season.

Northwest Notes: Lillard, Wolves, Thunder Roster, OKC Arena

July 31st, 2023 at 5:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

A month after Damian Lillard requested a trade from the Trail Blazers, specifically to the Heat, there’s little movement on a deal with Miami or any other team, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Today (video link).

Lillard’s huge contract, not his desired destination, is the biggest impediment. His contract runs through the 2026/27 season and he’ll make an estimated $58.5MM the previous season before a $63.2MM option in the final year.

“It has simply been – for a lot of teams – his age and the idea of playing him over 60 million dollars at 35 and 36 years old, the last two years of his deal,” Wojnarowski said. “Right not, there’s just not been a lot of engagement among teams on a Lillard trade.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

The Thunder might be in a position this upcoming season where they start trading assets rather than hoarding them, The Ringer’s Michael Pina writes. The team may be good enough to warrant some moves that increase its chances of winning in the short term, not just the long term. The Thunder could begin attaching salary to draft capital for more established players, rather than doing the reverse.
The Timberwolves’ best chance at improvement is to develop young players like Josh Minott, Wendell Moore, Luka Garza and Leonard Miller, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes. The article details Minnesota’s efforts to coach up those reserves. “When you have the roster that we have, we’ve got to be able to develop some of these young guys and turn them into real players,” assistant coach Max Lefevre said. “It’s just huge.”
Oklahoma City mayor David Holt is more concerned about square footage than a seating capacity exceeding 20,000 in the Thunder’s proposed new arena, Steve Lackmeyer of The Oklahoman relays. Holt addressed a number of questions about the arena and other Thunder-related topics while answering readers’ questions. “Seating capacity is actually not that big of an issue in modern arena planning. The real issue for teams is square footage because the real revenue drivers for users are happening outside of the bowl,” Holt wrote. “That’s why it is so damaging for sports and concerts that our arena is dead-last of all NBA arenas in square footage. Some arenas are literally twice our size and most are 40-50 percent larger. I can’t tell you what the seating capacity of a new arena will be, but the current capacity is not really an issue and hasn’t really come up.”

Players Who Signed July 1 Are Now Eligible To Be Traded

July 31st, 2023 at 9:22am CST by Arthur Hill

The peak of the NBA’s transactions season has calmed down after an active start to July, but a few more players have become eligible to be traded on the final day of the month, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).

The 30-day trade restriction window has expired for draft picks who signed their contracts on July 1, along with six players who inked two-way contracts on that date.

The designation won’t matter for those at the very top of the draft, as the Spurs and Trail Blazers obviously won’t consider trading Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, respectively. However, it could come into play for a few others, especially if more big-name players are on the move as the summer winds down.

In addition to those top-three picks, first-rounders who signed on July 1 are the Magic’s Anthony Black and Jett Howard, the Pacers‘ Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard, the Trail Blazers‘ Kris Murray and the Heat’s Jaime Jaquez. The No. 18 pick out of UCLA, Jaquez has been mentioned as a potential asset in a trade to bring Damian Lillard to Miami.

Two-way players who signed on July 1, according to NBA.com’s transactions log, are the Sixers‘ Terquavion Smith and Ricky Council, the Heat‘s Dru Smith and Jamaree Bouyea, the Trail Blazers‘ Ibou Badji and the Rockets‘ Trevor Hudgins.

Most veteran free agents who signed this summer won’t become eligible to be traded by their teams until December 15 or January 15, depending on their circumstances. Those signings didn’t become official until July 6 or later because of the NBA’s summer moratorium.

Butler Likely To Pursue Extension

July 30th, 2023 at 9:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Caleb Martin, if he’s not included in a potential Damian Lillard blockbuster, could end up on the free agent market next summer, as Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel explains. The Heat forward can opt out of his $7.1MM salary for the 2024/25 season next summer. If he plays like he did in the postseason, he would obviously make that move. However, as Winderman notes, Martin may not be quite as effective now that he’s more of a known commodity and will be more of a focus in defensive game plans.

The Heat could soon find themselves in the same salary cap crunch as the Celtics in the wake of Jaylen Brown‘s huge extension, Winderman opines. Jimmy Butler is likely to pursue a costly extension whether or not the club acquires Lillard and his huge contract. Butler is entering the first year of three-year, $146.4MM million contract that includes a player option in 2025/26. A payroll that includes a Butler extension, along with contracts of Lillard and Bam Adebayo, would result in tough decisions regarding the remainder of the roster.

Heat Notes: Lillard, Cain, Audige, Free Agents, Roster

July 28th, 2023 at 6:41pm CST by Rory Maher

As of Friday afternoon, nothing appeared to be imminent regarding a possible Damian Lillard trade, reports Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

According to Jackson, the Trail Blazers‘ front office is currently on vacation and has shown no inclination to comply with Lillard’s trade request to the Heat. That said, Lillard remains focused on landing in Miami and doesn’t plan expand his list to include additional teams, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Jackson.

Jackson believes the Blazers may have spurred the league to investigate Lillard’s request and the comments made by his agent (Aaron Goodwin) in order to drum up trade interest, hence the NBA’s memo on Friday. Since Lillard and Goodwin told the league the star guard would fulfill his contract and play for any team that trades for him, the Heat will have to hope rival teams don’t decide to make “legitimate trade offers” for the 33-year-old, Jackson observes (Twitter links).

If Portland decides to wait until midseason to move Lillard, that could work against the Heat, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. As Winderman notes, the Nets received far more in return for Kevin Durant at the February trade deadline than the rumored offers they were receiving last summer for the superstar forward.

Here’s more out of Miami:

The Heat are interested in bringing back Jamal Cain on a two-way contract, which is why they gave him a qualifying offer, but the young forward hopes to land a standard deal and continues to discuss that possibility with other teams, Jackson writes. Miami could match a potential offer sheet for Cain since he’s a restricted free agent.
Miami is interested in signing former Northwestern guard Chase Audige, who played for the Heat’s Summer League team, to a training camp contract, but his agent declined to say whether or not Audige would accept the offer, Jackson adds. As a senior for the Wildcats in 2022/23, the 6’4″ Audige averaged 14.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.9 APG and 2.4 SPG in 34 games (34.4 MPG), though he struggled with scoring efficiency (.368/.325/.832 shooting line).
The Heat have had discussions with Goran Dragic‘s representatives about a possible reunion, but a potential deal likely wouldn’t come to fruition until later this summer, according to Jackson. The veteran free agent guard made his lone All-Star appearance with the Heat, but he’s 37 years old and dealt with a knee problem last season that required surgery. The Heat can only offer the veteran’s minimum, which may take them out of the running for free agents like Christian Wood and Kelly Oubre, who are looking for more money, per Jackson.
In a mailbag for The Miami Herald, Anthony Chiang answers questions about the Heat’s roster and how the new second apron might affect the team going forward.

NBA Sends Memo Regarding Damian Lillard’s Trade Request

July 28th, 2023 at 5:07pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA sent out a memo on Friday to all of the league’s 30 teams regarding Damian Lillard‘s trade request, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter video link via The Rally).

According to Charania, the NBA interviewed the Trail Blazers star and his agent, Aaron Goodwin, about the narrow scope of his trade request and said Lillard may face punishment if further public comments are made about only wanting to end up with the Heat.

Goodwin told two different reporters earlier this month that he had been telling rival teams it would be “futile” to engage in trade talks about his client, given Lillard’s singular focus on playing for Miami.

Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report has a full copy of the league’s memo (Twitter link). The two most noteworthy sections are as follows:

“Goodwin denied stating or indicating to any team that Lillard would refuse to play for them. Goodwin and Lillard affirmed to us that Lillard would fully perform the services called for under his player contract in any trade scenario. The relevant teams provided descriptions of their communications with Goodwin that were mostly, though not entirely, consistent with Goodwin’s statements to us.

“We have advised Goodwin and Lillard that any future comments, made privately to teams or publicly, suggesting Lillard will not fully perform the services called for under his player contract in the event of a trade will subject Lillard to discipline by the NBA. We also have advised the Players Association that any similar comments by players or their agents will be subject to discipline going forward.”

As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald notes (via Twitter), it’s a little odd that the NBA has taken a harder stance on Lillard’s request given that plenty of other stars have desired to be traded to specific teams over the past handful of years, including Anthony Davis (Lakers), Paul George (Clippers) and Kevin Durant (Suns), among others. Though in fairness, I don’t recall any of those players’ agents discussing the matter publicly.

The NBA could fine Lillard up to $150K if he were to publicly say he wants to be traded to the Heat, tweets Jackson — obviously the veteran has done no such thing to this point.

John Hollinger of The Athletic believes the league is attempting to address its “oversight” of a player requesting a trade to one specific team (Twitter link). The NBA could have negotiated something about it in the new CBA, Hollinger notes, but did not.

Lillard, 33, has spent his entire 11-year career with Portland, the franchise that drafted him sixth overall in 2012. The star guard is coming off arguably his best individual season, averaging a career-high 32.2 points per game on a career-best .645 true shooting percentage.

However, the Blazers went into tank mode down the stretch of 2022/23, going 2-15 over their final 17 games to finish 33-49. Lillard had called upon the front office to build out the roster around him this offseason, but the team was unable to find any suitable deals with the third overall pick (or its young players), ultimately selecting G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson.

Udonis Haslem Officially Confirms Retirement

July 28th, 2023 at 1:58pm CST by Luke Adams

When Udonis Haslem re-signed with the Heat in 2022, he made it clear that the 2022/23 season would be his last, a stance that he didn’t waver from over the course of the year.

On Friday, he made it clear that he hasn’t reconsidered that decision, publishing an Instagram post in which he officially confirmed that he’s retiring as a player.

“I consider myself extremely blessed to say I can leave this game with no regrets,” Haslem wrote as part of a larger statement. “The championships, the accolades, the brotherhood, man it’s hard not to be at peace. Undrafted to a 3x Champion, All-Rookie 2nd Team, Teammate Of The Year, the oldest player to play in an NBA Finals game, Miami Heat’s all-time leading rebounder and longest-tenured player, the list goes on.

“… I will always be the #OG, but now it’s time for the family man and the businessman to get to work… #40, see you in the rafters soon. Until then, #OG out.”

Haslem, 43, joined the Heat as an undrafted free agent in 2003 and spent the next 20 years with the franchise, appearing in 879 regular season games and another 149 postseason contests. He won titles with the club in 2006, 2012, and 2013, averaging 7.5 points and 6.6 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per game over the course of his career.

Although he hasn’t played regular rotation minutes since the 2014/15 season, Haslem had remained a valued member of Miami’s roster since then, signing a series of one-year contracts to remain with the club.

Haslem has been the NBA’s oldest player since Vince Carter retired in 2020, and joins Carter as just one of 10 players in league history to play at least 20 seasons. Unlike most members of that group, Haslem spent all 20 of his seasons with a single team, becoming just the third player in NBA history to play for the same franchise for at least two decades — Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks) and Kobe Bryant (Lakers) are the two others.

Even though Haslem has retired, he has still been around the team this summer, serving as a mentor to its younger players. However, during his final few years as a player, he repeatedly told reporters that he had no desire to become a coach and would prefer to explore the possibility of buying into the Heat as a minority owner.

“I look to take a path of ownership, but to be a working owner, not a guy who crosses his legs and sits on the sideline,” Haslem said in February. “I want to be a guy that connects the dots between the locker room and front office, connects the dots between the front office and the owners.”

New York Notes: Randle, Knicks, Long Island Nets, Simmons

July 27th, 2023 at 1:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Knicks All-Star power forward Julius Randle seems to be on the mend following his offseason arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle last month. As Belle Fraser of The New York Post writes, Randle shared a new workout video to his personal Instagram account.

Randle sat out the final five contests of the 2022/23 regular season after spraining his ankle in a late March bout with the Heat. He then re-aggravated the ailment during the closeout bout of New York’s five-game first-round series win over the Cavaliers.

In the regular season, the 28-year-old averaged 25.1 PPG, 10.0 RPG, and 4.1 APG during his second All-NBA season with the Knicks, who finished with a 47-35 record and the No. 5 seed in the East last year. His numbers regressed mightily in the playoffs, in part due to the ankle ailment. Randle averaged 16.6 PPG on 37.4% shooting from the field, along with 8.3 RPG, and 3.6 APG.

There’s more out of New York:

The Knicks have shored up their wing depth this offseason, but will still face an uphill battle in a stacked Eastern Conference. Zach Braziller of The New York Post (subscriber link) predicts how the Knicks will fare this season, speculating that five Eastern teams will finish ahead of them.
The Nets’ NBAGL team, the Long Island Nets, have traded the returning player rights for swingman Alondes Williams to the Heat’s NBA G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, in exchange for the returning player rights of shooting guard D.J. Stewart to the Nets, the Skyforce announced in a press release.
Oft-injured Nets guard Ben Simmons is now completely healthy after rehabbing from the back nerve impingement that caused him to miss the last six weeks of the 2022/23 regular season, sources inform Ian Begley of SNY.tv. The 27-year-old anticipates that he will be able to fully partake in Brooklyn’s training camp in September.