National Basketball Association

Damian Lillard views Heat, Nets as interesting trade destinations

Updated Jun. 7, 2023 6:36 p.m. ET

It's the third consecutive offseason that the NBA world will ponder whether Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers will break up. If they finally do so, it appears the seven-time All-Star views a couple of teams as potentially interesting destinations.

After being asked about hypothetical trades to the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets, Lillard — who hasn't requested a trade — expressed in an interview with SHOWTIME that Miami and Brooklyn would be the most compelling of the four teams if he were indeed dealt.

"Miami is the obvious one, and Bam [Adebayo] is my dawg, for real," Lillard said. "Brooklyn is another obvious one because Mikal Bridges is my dawg, too. And both have capable rosters."

The Heat battle the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night. This is the second time in four seasons that Miami has reached the NBA Finals and the third time the Heat have reached the Eastern Conference finals over that span. Miami could potentially base a trade package for Lillard around Tyler Herro, who has averaged 20-plus points per game in each of the last two regular seasons, and a handful of unprotected first-round draft picks.

On the other hand, the Nets have had a lot of moving pieces over the last three years, as they traded Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen and several of their own first-rounders as part of a multi-team trade with the Houston Rockets in 2021 for James Harden. Brooklyn then traded Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2022 for a package centered around Ben Simmons and a first-rounder.

Earlier this season, the Nets traded Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks and Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns, the latter in a package that included the aforementioned Bridges, upcoming restricted free agent Cameron Johnson and four future unprotected first-rounders. A trade package for Lillard that doesn't include Bridges would likely have to include Simmons, several first-rounders and young players of Portland's choosing.

The Trail Blazers went 33-49 this season and finished 13th in the Western Conference. They haven't won a first-round playoff series since the 2018-19 NBA season. With that said, Portland moved up to No. 3 in the 2023 NBA Draft through the draft lottery. Their pick could be used to acquire an All-Star-caliber player to pair with Lillard or develop a potential franchise player (e.g. Brandon Miller or Scoot Henderson) to accelerate a rebuild.

Lillard averaged a career-high 32.2 points, 7.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 46.3%/37.1%/91.4% this season. He also dropped 71 points in a February matchup against the Rockets, which came roughly one month after a 60-point game against the Utah Jazz.

Lillard was limited to 29 games the year prior due to abdomen and hamstring issues. He's two years into a four-year, $176.3 million contract and will be 33 by next season.

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