Lillard and his agent would have needed to play their cards perfectly in order for Lillard to achieve his goal of moving to Miami.
Now that the Damian Lillard trade-rumor ocean has calmed, and the Miami Heat’s whale-hunting boat has docked, folks around the NBA are beginning to sort through leaked timelines and information that could offer a clearer picture of what transpired.
Speculation has run rampant as fans, commentators, and NBA players weigh in on why Lillard’s desired trade to the Magic City never materialized.
Heat leader Jimmy Butler casually dropped some serious claims on his social, imploring the NBA to probe how Lillard wound up traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.
“Yo NBA, man, y’all need to look into the Bucks for tampering. Y’all didn’t hear it from me,” Butler said in a brief video.
ans, especially those in Miami, have been emotionally exhausted by the previous three months of Lillard trade turmoil. This week, it was revealed that he would be moving to one of the Heat’s major Eastern Conference rivals, ending what had seemed to be a foregone conclusion that he would be moved to Miami.
While the dust is still settling, we have identified a few people or organizations that may either be given credit for or blame for the Miami Heat’s unsuccessful attempt to sign Damian Lillard.
The NBA is at the top of our list of offenders, and with good reason. Soon after Lillard asked to be traded to the Miami Heat, the NBA sent out a memo warning other players not to promise to play for just one team. Lillard and other NBA players were cautioned of this prohibition.
The memorandum gave Portland more negotiating power in league-wide trade talks, giving the Trail Blazers more leeway to end serious negotiations with the Heat. Because of this, the Trail Blazers had no reason to trade Lillard to Miami, which was his top choice for a new team.
From a distance, it appears that the NBA’s involvement made it more difficult for the Heat to sign the top point guard.
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