Miami Heat's Damian Lillard pursuit takes shocking twist

After 11 seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, Damian Lillard wants a trade to the Miami Heat. That’s been the story all offseason. Yet, despite having months to negotiate, Lillard appears no closer to landing in South Beach.

It’s not because of the Blazers, who reportedly want a Lillard trade done as soon as possible, or at least before the start of training camp on Oct. 3. This gives the Heat a seemingly limited window to execute a deal.

Yet, despite Lillard’s wishes to land in Miami, the Blazers aren’t required to exclusively negotiate with just one team. There’s also 28 others out there too. With a self-imposed deadline just under two weeks away, the Blazers are amplifying their efforts to find the best trade return possible for their former franchise cornerstone. This even includes negotiating with teams not named the Heat.

“Talks have intensified over the past week, but still there’s no trade imminent. Portland is trying to talk to teams who have an interest in Lillard. Portland is exhausting all conversations this week, they’re certainly behaving like a team that wants to get a deal done before training camp. So far the one element that has not been a part of these talks are the Miami Heat, but that can change with one call.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Damian Lillard trade

Or, as Wojnarowski alluded to, maybe Portland is legitimately working on sending their longtime loyal icon to a team he’d rather not play for. Or maybe not. Yahoo’s Chris Haynes has even more on the Blazers’ discussions, or non-negotiations with Miami.

“Portland is refusing to talk to Miami. Miami understands that they don’t have the assets. But they want to know ‘Hey Portland, we’ll involve a 3rd or 4th team. But communicate with us & let us know what you are looking for.’ It hasn’t gotten to that stage.”
Yahoo’s Chris Haynes on Lillard

As Woj noted, any potential Lillard trade could end up being a multi-team trade. It’s possible the Blazers’ most recent conversations have been more about trying to find willing participants in a bigger Lillard trade.

Or maybe this is one last attempt at getting the Heat to improve their offer just enough to finally get a Lillard trade done. If the Oct. 3 deadline is concrete, we’ll have our answers soon enough.