Heat Shouldn't Target Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard amid Latest NBA Trade Rumors

After falling short in the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat are looking to reload and make another run at a championship.

Before Bradley Beal was dealt from the Washington Wizards to the Phoenix Suns, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that Miami was one of two teams in "serious talks" to acquire him.

This suggests that the Heat are in the market for another scorer, which makes sense with the team finishing the 2022-23 season last in points per game.

And at least one member of the squad, Jimmy Butler, may be turning his attention to Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard.

On Instagram, the six-time All-Star posted a screenshot of a song by Dame D.O.L.L.A., which is Lillard's rap name.

There's at least a chance that Lillard is available this offseason. While Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin told reporters this week that he has "zero desire" to trade him, that could change if the soon-to-be 33-year-old is adamant about getting out, which is a distinct possibility.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski (h/t Real GM) reported that if the Weber State product makes a trade request, Portland would likely honor it.

According to The Athletic's Sam Amick, Lillard is expected to meet with Blazers officials to discuss the future of the roster, but he isn't particularly thrilled with Portland's inability to move the No. 3 pick in last week's draft for a proven veteran:

"While there are all sorts of shared enthusiasm about the additions of Scoot Henderson (with the No. 3 pick), Kris Murray (at No. 23) and Rayan Rupert (at No. 43), the source said nothing has changed about Lillard's strong desire to play with the kind of high-level players that would make the Blazers contenders again. The youth movement, impressive though it might be, isn't enough."

According to Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes, Lillard doesn't necessarily want a team with three superstars, he just wants to be on a roster that has a shot to chase a title:

Miami would seem to fit the bill, and Amick also reported that Lillard has "serious interest" in joining the Heat. The question is whether he would truly make sense for Miami.

At first blush, the seven-time All-Star appears to be a player in whom the Heat should also be interested. He averaged 32.2 points per game last season and would boost a Miami offense that averaged only 109.5 points per game.

Partnering Lillard with Butler and Bam Adebayo would certainly seem like a winning strategy.

The problem is the potential cost. Lillard couldn't come cheap, and a trade could strip the Heat of valuable depth players such as Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry and/or Duncan Robinson, along with multiple future draft picks.

This is a possible issue that Lillard himself has mentioned when discussing the prospect of a trade.

"They can trade me somewhere that we all say is a contender. But what is it gonna cost for me to get there?" he told The Last Stand podcast (h/t Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer). "How is it a guarantee that we're gonna be playing in June when I get there? How do we know if everybody's gonna be healthy? How do we know if it's gonna work out?"

Miami reached the Finals with strong coaching from Erik Spoelstra, a deep roster and quality team-oriented basketball. Acquiring Lillard could leave Miami with three legitimate stars and little else.

The tremendous team chemistry upon which the Heat relied this past season could become a thing of the past. That could severely work against Lillard's desire for a team that just "has a shot."

A core of Butler, Lillard and Adebayo would be fun to watch, but that alone might not be enough to get Miami past teams like the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics—who will undoubtedly seek their own upgrades this offseason—in the Eastern Conference. It certainly wouldn't give the Heat an edge over the defending champion Denver Nuggets.

The Heat were bullied by the Nuggets in the Finals because of a size disadvantage and because they couldn't find defensive answers for Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. For as good as Lillard is offensively, adding him wouldn't address either of those issues.

Giving up multiple assets to acquire Lillard and absorbing his $45.6 million salary would leave Miami with little hope of adding either size or defensive reliability on the wing.

And all of this is assuming Portland doesn't demand more than just draft picks and support players for Lillard. The Blazers could easily decide that he is too valuable to give up for a package that doesn't also include Adebayo.

The reality is that the cost is too high and the prospect of dismantling a core that just reached the Finals is too risky for Miami to make Lillard a top offseason priority.

Building on what the Heat already have would be a much more sensible offseason strategy.

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*Contract information via Spotrac.