The Blazers Reportedly Refuse To Talk To The Heat About A Damian Lillard Trade

For the first time in weeks, it seems like there is some sort of momentum building towards a Damian Lillard trade actually happening. While Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that there’s nothing imminent on that front, the Portland Trail Blazers are apparently having conversations with other teams as we get closer and closer to media days and the start of training camp.

During his cameo on NBA Today, Wojnarowski said that the Blazers haven’t spoken to anyone with Lillard’s long-standing preferred destination, the Miami Heat. And in a radio appearance, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report took things a little farther, saying that Portland just flat out refuses to hold a conversation with Miami.

“Portland is refusing to talk to Miami,” Haynes said. “Miami understands that they don’t have the assets, but they wanna know, hey, Portland, we’ll involve a third or a fourth team, but communicate with us and let us know what you are looking for.”

It is worth saying that there is, potentially, a very obvious reason for this: Miami’s potential offer for Lillard hasn’t changed since the beginning of July, when he first requested a move. Back then, Haynes reported that the Heat were prepared to send Portland a deal revolving around Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, and draft capital, and even though there’s been plenty of speculation about how things could evolve from there — maybe young players get thrown in by Miami, maybe they find an additional team to take Herro, whose skill-set is a bit repetitive in Portland — the Blazers have made clear they are willing to wait until they get the best possible package in return for a player of Lillard’s caliber.