Blazers, Heat Trade Talks ‘Could Pick Up’ Around Training Camp

ThePortland Trail Blazershave been quiet on the Damian Lillard trade front, but that might not be the case in the foreseeable future.

With very little going on in the NBA at the moment, there hasn’t been a need to trade Lillard. However, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, that could change soon.

“The expectation from those around this situation is that trade talks could pick up as the start of camp inches closer,”Chiang said. “And if the Heat is the only team extending a serious offer for Lillard, then the Trail Blazers may need to at least engage the Heat on some health trade discussions.”

Lillard requested a trade from the Blazers on July 1, the day after free agency began. And while there appeared to be some interest from the Miami Heat, talks did not go very far once Portland stated that it didn’t want to acquire Tyler Herro.

Perhaps the Heat will come back to the table with a more suitable offer for the Blazers around training camp, but Portland still has time on its side. The Blazers are in no need to trade Lillard before the season since there is still four more years on his contract.

The Heat is the team with more urgency to get this done, so it would make sense for Miami to give Portland a call to try and build a deal that would send Lillard to South Beach ahead of the season opener on Oct. 25.