Brian Windhorst: Heat not ‘desperate’ for Damian Lillard

Adrian Wojnarowski stated on Friday that discussions about trading the Trail Blazers’ standout player, Damian Lillard, have become more serious. However, there is no imminent agreement on the horizon.

Wojnarowski also mentioned that the Miami Heat, which is Lillard’s preferred destination, haven’t participated in recent trade negotiations with the Portland Trail Blazers. He did, however, caution that this situation could change unexpectedly.

Additionally, Brian Windhorst affirmed Wojnarowski’s report and noted that Miami doesn’t seem to be behaving like a team fully committed to making an all-out effort to acquire Lillard.

“I don’t think the Heat are desperate at all to trade for Damian Lillard,” Windhorst said on NBA Today (YouTube link). “I think they want to trade for him, but I don’t think that it’s something that if they don’t get it done that it wrecks their season.

“They were in the Finals last year. They have young players that are getting better. They have assets that they can trade for other deals. And as we talked about earlier on the show, Dame Lillard isn’t potentially the only star player that could be on the market. Maybe not today, but certainly in the next six-to-12-to-18 months.

“I don’t think the Heat have ever approached it like it’s the be-all, end-all. … Like Woj reported, and I have heard the same thing … I don’t think that the Heat and the Trail Blazers have been engaged in talks at all, on almost any level, for quite some time.

“That could change very quickly. Dame Lillard could be a member of the Heat in the short-term future. But I think that there has been a misjudgment in sort of the way it’s all viewed, that this is something that the Heat have absolutely got to get done, and I just don’t think they view it that way.”