The Miami Heat are perhaps the team to monitor if Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard requests a trade. In the meantime, they have to improve their team following a five-game loss in the NBA Finals to the Denver Nuggets.

The Heat are looking to build their roster around Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, who each are under contract through 2026. One player who has been linked to the team is Christian Wood, who played last season with the Dallas Mavericks and is not expected to return to the team.

Yahoo Sports! senior NBA reporter Jake Fischer said Wood is a player who “continues to be mentioned by league personnel as someone on the Heat's radar” amid their pursuit of Lillard.

“The most consistent Portland rumbling around the league isn't even about Portland necessarily, but the Miami Heat's patience for Lillard to actually seek a new destination prior to the 2023-24 season,” Fischer said. “But before that bridge is crossed, and if Lillard never truly wavers in his commitment to the Blazers, the Heat have their own wonky accounting to navigate this summer.”

The Heat have plenty of assets to give up in a potential trade for Lillard. Guard Tyler Herro, who last season averaged 20.1 points per game, can be moved along with draft capital.

Lillard is yet to formally request a trade from Portland, but the Trail Blazers could be moving toward a path without him. They selected Scoot Henderson with the No. 3 pick in Thursday's NBA Draft. For the Trail Blazers to compete, they will have to put veterans and even some stars around Lillard in a loaded Western Conference.

The Heat had a terrific run to the NBA Finals and with Lillard, could potentially get over the top and win a championship. But first, they have to retool the rest of their roster, and Wood, who last season averaged 16.6 points on 51.5 percent shooting and 37.6 percent from 3-point range, with 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, is seen as a player who could do so.