Sam Amick via The Athletic
>Lillard indeed has serious interest in joining the Heat, who would surely love to pair him with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. If it reaches this point — and there’s still an ‘if’ here considering all the times Lillard chose not to ask out before — Lillard’s wishes would matter a great deal because of the enormity of his contract.
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> With four seasons and a combined $216 million left on his deal (including a player option worth $63 million in the 2026-27 season), the prospect of a team trading for Lillard against his wishes is hard to fathom.
full article – [https://theathletic.com/4640012/2023/06/26/nba-free-agency-news-rumors-damian-lillard-james-harden/?source=user\_shared\_article](https://theathletic.com/4640012/2023/06/26/nba-free-agency-news-rumors-damian-lillard-james-harden/?source=user_shared_article)
by Wonderful-Balance711
25 Comments
I’m gonna have to veto that trade on behalf of the entire Celtics fanbase, sorry
Heat winning it all next year with dame
The reporting around this is still mostly speculation, but the way Amick laid out the potential deals Portland would need to make — and how unlikely they are — to make a team suitable for Dame to compete in Portland, has made me lean towards him requesting a trade sometime before the trade deadline.
All I wish for is this to not continue to devolve into a “Melodrama” or “Dwightmare” debacle (it sort of has already with the Showtime interview, 20 year-old songs “randomly” getting played in a French club, etc.):
As it stands, no one would blame Dame for asking out (or even deciding to stay put definitively in Portland). It’s the drawn out “will he/ won’t he” thing that gets on fans nerves and ruins an all-time great’s reputation.
Amick is the one you can trust.
is Amick the reliable one? I can never tell
What are we going to talk about once he actually gets traded lol.
Time to shit or get off the pot, Dame.
Please make it stop.
Heat get – Dame Lillard, the greatest Trail Blazer of all time
Portland get – Tyler Herro, who is a positional nightmare given their roster, and picks that are guaranteed to be worth nothing
I can’t imagine why Portland is hesitant to pursue this deal
Portland is going to be set up beautifully regardless with Scoot/Sharpe as building blocks, but it does seem like they’re getting the short end of the stick here having to settle for Miami’s non Bam/Jimmy assets.
They obviously have to do right by their franchise icon, but they should be able to just get the best deal possible for their best asset. Herro and some firsts just seems like such a light return for Dame, but I guess it is what it is.
Wake me up when it actually happens
I can’t take this teasing anymore. Please make it stop already.
Butler about to threepeat losing in the Finals
I still don’t understand why Brooklyn would even want to give up a haul for Lillard. Is there actual smoke to them wanting to do so or is it just fan speculation?
Of course that would be a big 3 to bad Portland doesn’t want a box of Triscuits and some scraps for a generational talent
I just have a hard time thinking that the Nets would go all in and do a Dame trade after just getting out of the KD/Kyrie/Harden drama and finally getting some valuable assets for trading them.
That being said, I have a strong feeling that there could always be a 3rd team that randomly shows up and snatches the big fish in the end. For instance, everyone thought that the Knicks and Heat were the frontrunners to get Mitchell, and then the Cavs came outta nowhere and snatched him. This off-season, everyone initially said that the Heat and Bucks were potential landing spots for Beal, and then the Suns came up last minute and got him instead.
But ultimately, all of these trade talks are moot until Dame officially asks out tho.
That’s not what pairing means
jesus christ just get it over with already
Lillard kinda locked himself up with that loyalty bull.
No way, I never wouldve guessed!
Enough parity said the NBA
I’m cool with it, Denver is really good I want to see some competition
Miami has some atrocious assets.. Orlando magic is much much more interesting
This dudes a clown, just fuckin ask for your trade publicly already
I’m curious how Portland fans gotta feel about this. Like they’ve been loyal to him like crazy, and Lillard certainly has done his part but it’s kinda like now every day your girl is openly flirting with the idea of leaving you, talking to your friends about it with specific guys in mind, and it’s been going on for weeks. Him doing this surely gotta be burning a little bit of that good will, and I wouldn’t blame them
Dame be like Loyaltyyy Loyaltyyy Loyaltyyy oh wait did you say Miami?