Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has been the subject of speculation ever since his shocking trade request earlier this summer. While the Blazers have seemed willing to oblige his wishes, no suiters have yet completed a deal for Lillard despite his still All-NBA level of play.

The most prevalent team in the Damian Lillard trade talks have been the Miami Heat, who saw their lack of secondary playmaking thoroughly exposed during their NBA Finals loss to the Denver Nuggets.

However, Portland has been reluctant to accept Miami's proposed trade offer, and this is drawing the ire of certain NBA insiders, including Bobby Marks of ESPN.

“If you’re Portland, you have to come to a realization that [Tyler] Herro, the two young players, and draft picks is going to be better than what you’ll get,” said Marks via the Lowe Post.

Herro has indeed been the most prevalent name in the Lillard-Heat trade talks. Other potential Heat pieces include youngster Nikola Jovic, who played sparingly in 2023 but still has flashed lofty potential in stints with the G-League. With an apparent lack of other teams willing to sacrifice much in exchange for Lillard's services, it would certainly behoove the Blazers to at least seriously consider the Heat's offer as currently constructed, whatever that may be.

A return package centered around a player of Herro's caliber and draft compensation may not be what Portland initially had in mind to get in return for Damian Lillard. However, as the season nears, the pressure is mounting on the franchise to salvage something in return for their best player.