Miami Heat Now Have To Decide Between Moving Forward Or Waiting On Damian Lillard

The Miami Heat may have to play the waiting game with Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard.

Lillard met with the Blazers front office Monday but there were no signs of him requesting a trade. That leaves the Heat and other teams in limbo because of the uncertainty.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst addressed the issue Tuesday morning on "Get Up."

"This was the meeting a lot of the league was watching to see if Damian Lillard requested a trade," Windhorst said. "And he absolutely did not. From what I understand, the tenor of the meeting was that he doesn't want to pressure on the Blazers. He wants to see what they do in free agency. He's going to give them that time do that. This is an interesting strategy move."

.@LegsESPN gives his top five NBA offseason questions ⤵️

1️⃣ Will Dame stay in Portland?
2️⃣ Will the Porzingis trade pay off for Boston?
3️⃣ What will Nick Nurse's impact be in Philly?
4️⃣ Do the Suns finally have enough?
5️⃣ How will Wemby's game translate? pic.twitter.com/FBgUatGLqd
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 27, 2023

The offseason so far is a roller coaster for the Blazers and Lillard. He said he wanted veteran players but the team decided to keep the No. 3 pick in last year's draft instead of trading for another superstar. But then Blazers general manager Joe Cronin released a statement that said they are committed to building around Lillard.

For the Heat, they have to decide if they want to wait out the madness or move forward with their plans.

"The draft came and went and no veterans," Windhorst said. "He's still not pressing from what I've been told. He's still going to give the Blazers every opportunity to work through this free agency process this week whether it's through trades or signing players. I will tell you that this is going to potentially cause some teams that were going to make offers for him to have move on with business. They were waiting to see whether Dame Lillard was going to be on the market before they started to make moves this week. Now, some teams are going to have to make a decision either go forward or wait around. Lillard is going to wait around."

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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