Lillard unwavering, resolute in determination to get to Miami. And Heat personnel notes
The Portland Trail Blazers’ desire to explore alternate destinations (beyond Miami) in trade talks involving Damian Lillard hasn’t softened Lillard’s position.
The seven-time All Star guard remains unwavering that he wants to play only for the Heat, a source with direct knowledge reiterated to the Miami Herald on Sunday night.
So if the Blazers attempt to trade Lillard to a team other than Miami, a potential standoff looms.
Though Lillard does not have a no-trade clause, his mind-set — at this time — is to remain resolute and adamant that Miami is the only place he wants to play.
If the Blazers attempt to send him to a different location, Lillard will need to decide how he wants to handle it and how messy he wants it to become.
The expectation around Lillard is that his insistence on Miami will discourage other teams from offering their best assets to try to acquire him.
While the 76ers are viewed as a potential threat to the Heat, Philadelphia has not made Tyrese Maxey available in a trade, according to two national outlets.
The Heat remains determined to close the deal. Efforts remain ongoing to find a third and potentially a fourth team to help facilitate a deal that would send Lillard to Miami.
“The Heat culture, he fits in there,” ESPN analyst J.J. Redick said. “He’s a Heat guy in terms of his mentality and no-nonsense approach.”
Lillard, 33, is owed $216 million over the remaining four seasons of his contract.
THIS AND THAT
The second-round pick that Miami will get in the Max Strus sign-and-trade in Cleveland will be in 2026.
The Cavs initially balked at sending the Heat a second-round pick and instead wanted Miami to take wing player Cedi Osman, who averaged 8.7 points and shot 37.2 percent on threes last season. But the Heat didn’t want to take his $6.7 million salary, and the Spurs offered to take him as a third team.
▪ The Heat has expressed interest in a few backup point guards, but one who they made an early inquiry about — Jevon Carter — got far more from Chicago than Miami had available.
Carter, who played for Milwaukee last season, agreed to a three-year, $20 million deal with the Bulls. Miami could offer only the league minimum, just above $2 million.
▪ New Heat center Thomas Bryant must be better defensively than he was for the Lakers and Nuggets last season.
According to the NBA’s tracking data, Bryant allowed the player he was guarding to shoot 55.1 percent; those players shot 50.1 percent overall. That 55.1 was the worst in the league among centers who defended as many shots as Bryant (610).
Among players who defended at least 400 shots last season, Detroit’s James Wiseman was the only center who allowed a higher shooting percentage (56.4 on 440 attempts against).
Among players who defended at least 100 shots, former Heat backup center Cody Zeller allowed players to shoot 59.8 percent against him, worst in the league. Zeller agreed to terms with New Orleans on Sunday.
As perspective last season, Bam Adebayo allowed the player he was guarding to shoot 48.7 percent, and Kevin Love permitted 49.7.
Here’s the good news: Bryant was middle of the back in defensive field-goal percentage against the previous season, allowing players to shoot slightly lower against him (48.8 percent) than the 49 percent they shot overall.
Keep in mind that those defensive metrics don’t give a full picture, because they don’t take into account help defenders or when a player leaves his man to help a teammate.
▪ As for new Heat swingman Josh Richardson, his defensive field-goal percentage against was surprisingly high last season — 50.6, about four percentage points higher than those players shot overall. That 50.6 would have been worst among all Heat wing players last season.
But Richardson always has been known as a good defender. He averaged 1.3 steals and 0.4 blocks last season.
He has 534 steals and 282 steals in 503 career games.
And last year’s shooting percentage against might be an anomaly; Richardson permitted the player he was guarding to shoot 46.8 percent in 2021-22.
This story was originally published July 3, 2023 at 11:00 AM.
