With the Portland Trail Blazers and Miami Heat appearing to be at a stalemate in the trade negotiations surrounding star guard Damian Lillard, the latest rumor out of Miami casts even more doubt on the possibility of a quick resolution for an increasingly tense situation.

“Portland has remained disinclined to engage (the) Heat in serious trade discussions on Lillard,” according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

“Blazers acting disinterested about dealing him [to Miami],” Jackson adds. “One would think Blazers would get serious about this at some point, but they're still not engaging Miami in negotiations.”

Earlier on Monday, revered ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the start of NBA Training Camp — which will begin for all 30 teams by the first week of October — would be the “moment of truth” in regard to a Lillard trade. With that said, there are rumblings that the Blazers would rather keep Lillard, and understandably so.

After all, players of his caliber — that is to say perennial All-NBA candidates who are arguably the best player in franchise history — are difficult to find. No matter what anyone thinks of rookie guard Scoot Henderson, including himself, Portland stands a much better chance of attaining their goals if Lillard is on the roster.

Furthermore, while the Blazers undoubtedly like Jerami Grant, its frankly difficult to envision them offering the veteran forward the type of money he received in free agency (five years, $160 million) if they had their sights set on a rebuild rather than making a deep run in the playoffs.

Reading the tea leaves, Lillard's call for a trade — particularly to the Heat — may just go unanswered.