The Damian Lillard wait continues.
Lillard met with the Portland TrailBlazers general manager Joe Cronin and other team representatives on Monday, and according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, Lillard is prepared to wait and see what the team does in the free-agent market before determining his next course of action.
“This was the meeting a lot of the league was watching to see if Damian Lillard requested a trade,” Windhorst said, via ESPN’s Get UP show. “And he absolutely did not. From what I understand, the tenor of the meeting was that he doesn’t want to pressure on the Blazers. He wants to see what they do in free agency. He’s going to give them that time do that. This is an interesting strategy move.”
Despite the Blazers’ decision to continue to build around Lillard, the Miami Heat remains hopeful of an eventual trade request. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Miami is willing to wait for the Portland star.
According to multiple sources, the Heat has decided to wait patiently for Lillard to make a decision because they view him as a player worth waiting for. Meanwhile, the Heat would like to re-sign impending free agent guard Gabe Vincent regardless of whether Miami lands Lillard or not, according to a league source.
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald
Why They Can Wait for Lillard
Given the Heat’s huge luxury tax concerns, Miami’s only avenue to improve involves trades, using bird rights on their own free agents, and minimum contracts. This means the Heat will not be able to sign high impact players in free agency or do sign-and-trade deals. Doing sign-and-trade deals would hard cap them over $172 million. Additionally, the midlevel exception won’t be available for them. Basically, this means Miami’s only shot at making a significant upgrade is through trades, especially for Lillard.
In the end, the chase continues for Lillard. Will the Blazers finally decide to trade their star guard? We’ll see.
