When the Damian Lillard trade saga had officially come to a close, the end result was certainly dramatic, and even more than that, it was nothing short of unexpected.
The Milwaukee Bucks swooping in and acquiring Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers left fans who had been tracking the Miami Heat rumors, and even the more recent Toronto Raptors searching for answers.
It was the Heat specifically that had many scratching their heads, and while Portland didn’t appear overly interested in sending their longtime star to South Beach, it was the lone destination that continuously stood out and kept making its way back to center stage.
After things had calmed and Lillard was in his new city with his new team and gearing up to join Giannis Antetokounmpo for a title run, small tidbits on Miami’s pursuit continued to trickle out. But one comment made by Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, when asked about the Heat’s pursuit stood out, as Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald revealed.
“They did everything they could to acquire Dame. It takes two to get a deal done. I appreciate all that Pat [Riley], Andy [Elisburg] and Micky [Arison] did to try and make this happen.” Goodwin said, per the Miami Herald.
“It takes two to get a deal done” is a statement that will ring in the ears of Heat fans for the foreseeable future. It also signals a very real likelihood that the Blazers had very little interest in either whatever Miami was willing to offer, or in sending Lillard to team up with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Erik Spoelstra.
Regardless, Lillard is now a member of the Bucks, and the Heat will begin to prepare for the upcoming season of a long, drawn-out process of attempting to pursue a star which it appears they were put on the back burner for all along.
