Is Damian Lillard’s Trade Request To The Miami Heat Drawing Attention Away From Building Around Current Roster?

Portland Trailblazers guard Damian Lillard is possibly shifting the Miami Heat’s focus from building a contender around All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

On a recent episode of NBA Today, Ramona Shelburne gave her input on what the Heat’s priorities should be.

"While they wait on Damian [Lillard], it's restricting their ability to fill out the roster around Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo," Shelburne said. "They lose Gabe Vincent and Max Strus. OK, I believe in the Heat Culture, and I believe that there's someone in Sioux Falls that we don't know about or someone that they saw at Summer League and they're going to bring in, and we're all going to be wondering where they came from... It's hard to fill out that roster right now because of the uncertainty that it's going to take."

Miami lost two major playoff contributors, Vincent and Strus, in free agency this summer.

The Heat have much success in developing undrafted prospects in recent years, including Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, Vincent, and Strus. Center Orlando Robinson is the next of these potential prospects after being named to the All-Summer League First Team. He averaged 29.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.6 assists while shooting 57 percent from the field in Vegas.

Shelburne points out that the roster may be "hard to fill" due to the uncertainty of what assets will be needed to acquire Lillard. Miami is reported to have an offer centered around Tyler Herro, three first-round picks, and one young asset.

Anthony Pasciolla is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He can be reached at anthonypasciolla36@gmail.com or follow him on Tik Tok @anthonysports_