Inside The Heat

Did The Portland Trail Blazers Do Enough To Keep Damian Lillard Off Miami Heat's Radar

The Portland Trail Blazers drafted three quality players but are from being contenders
Shandel Richardson|
Did The Portland Trail Blazers Do Enough To Keep Damian Lillard Off Miami Heat's Radar
Did The Portland Trail Blazers Do Enough To Keep Damian Lillard Off Miami Heat's Radar

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Miami HeatPortland Trail Blazers

A day after the NBA draft, Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard is now on the clock. 

The Trail Blazers drafted three quality players Thursday _ Scoot Henderson, Kris Murray and Rayan Rupert _ that leaves Lillard with a decision. He can either stay or go. 

"That's up to him," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said Friday on an appearance on Get Up. "Damian Lillard has to decide if he wants to grow with this young group. This team's not going to be a championship contender this season." 

At 32, Lillard's championship-window clock is ticking. The Miami Heat, an already built contender, are among the willing suitors for Lillard should he choose not to remain in Portland. July 9 is the first day he can be traded because it's the day he signed his contract extension last year. 

"And if Damian Lillard wants to go to a contender, it's probably going to be somewhere else unless he's willing to wait a couple years for this group to grow," Wojnarowski said. "There's no magic trade for them." 

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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