The fate of star Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has been one of basketball’s primary storylines this offseason, as a slew of reports have indicated the seven-time All-Star is eager to join the Heat.
However, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the playing field may have changed in the race to acquire the future Hall of Famer.
Wojnarowski indicated on Friday afternoon’s episode of NBA Today that although no deal is imminent, the Lillard trade discussions have intensified—and do not include Miami, the defending Eastern Conference champion.
“Those talks have intensified this week with Damian Lillard, but still, there’s no trade imminent,” Wojnarowski said. “We talked about this all summer. Things would pick up once we got past Labor Day and the opening of training camp loomed.”
According to @wojespn, there is "no trade imminent" for Dame Lillard. pic.twitter.com/6d1hJthEh9
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) September 22, 2023
Training camp is scheduled to open for all 30 of the league’s teams by Oct. 3.
“You have Portland talking to not only teams who are interested in Lillard, but lots of teams that would want to get in on a bigger deal,” Wojnarowski said. “Portland is exhausting all those conversations this week, and they’re certainly behaving like a team that wants to get a deal done. … But so far, the one element that has not been a part of these talks [are] the Miami Heat.”
Wojnarowski stressed that conversations around Lillard remain fluid and could change at any time.
Lillard, 33, has spent his entire 11-year career with Portland. He was named third team All-NBA in 2022-23, during which he averaged a career-high 32.2 points per game.
