When Damian Lillard first asked for a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers early in the offseason, he made it clear that his desired destination was the Miami Heat. Throughout his whole career, Lillard had professed his desire to remain with the Blazers despite outside calls from fans and media alike to push for a trade. With the Blazers prospects of building a championship contender around Lillard dwindling, he finally asked for a trade. While the NBA world assumed that the Blazers and Heat continued to hold ongoing discussions involving a potential Lillard trade, its was revealed via Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report that the two sides ceased to have any dialogue after NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
“The last time Portland and Miami communicated was at Summer League in July via phone between Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin and Heat senior vice president of basketball operations and general manager Andy Elisburg,” Haynes reported. “Miami hoped to schedule an in person meeting while in Las Vegas to discuss trade scenarios, but that meeting never materialized.”
The biggest reveal from this whole ordeal is that it appears as if the Blazers never had any real intentions to trade Damian Lillard to the Heat. While nobody can really blame the Blazers for trying to find a trade that was best for them, it's a little bit of a low move for a player who had poured his heart and soul in the franchise only to the front office not hold up their end of the bargain.