Did Miami Heat Fail To Go All-In For Damian Lillard?
At few months ago, the city of Miami was abuzz because it felt like the Heat were on the cusp of signing Damian Lillard.
Somehow, the Heat failed to land a player who said his preferred destination was Miami. So how did it happen?
There were a lot of factors, from Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin reportedly wanting to make it difficult for the Heat to the Bucks making a better offer.
SI.com writer Chris Mannix said recently he thinks the Heat refused to make the best offer because they already felt they had Lillard in the bag.
Here's what he had to say on an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show: “They didn’t go all-in for Lillard, and the reasons for that could be multitude. Maybe they didn’t believe that Lillard, at 33 years old with $200 million left on his deal, warranted them to go all-in. Maybe they wanted to keep some of their powder dry in case a player like Giannis [Antetokounmpo] or a player like Joel Embiid became available over the next year, two years."
It marked the second straight year the Heat were rumored to land a star free agent. Last year it was Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Bradley Beal, calling some to say Heat president Pat Riley is failing as an executive.
Mannix felt the Heat were just a little comfortable on this one.
"Miami is always in star-hunting mode," Mannix said. "I think the Heat believed that they were the only game in town, and the reality is, for a while, they were right. As I mentioned, the Bucks were not in this mix for the better part of this offseason. The Raptors, another team mentioned, they were not in this mix for the better part of this offseason. For a while, the Heat were operating from a position of strength."
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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.
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