Report: Damian Lillard Requests Trade from Trail Blazers; Heat Preferred Destination

The Damian Lillard era is approaching its terminus for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes reported the seven-time All-Star has requested a trade. Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported the Blazers are expected to acquiesce.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Lillard is specifically looking to land with the Miami Heat. According to Haynes, any deal between the Blazers and Heat "would almost certainly include the involvement of a third team."

Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill added that the Philadelphia 76ers "are not a preferred destination." Shelburne echoed Charania's report and added the dynamic guard "has a deep respect for the San Antonio Spurs organization."

In the aftermath of Lillard's request, Blazers general manager Joe Cronin issued a statement saying the Blazers are "committed to winning, and we are going to do what's best for the team in pursuit of that goal."

Wojnarowski added that "front offices talking to Portland today were left with [the] impression that GM Joe Cronin is pursuing a star-level return package for Damian Lillard–and that Cronin plans to look well beyond the Miami Heat to find one."

Saturday's news doesn't come as a surprise because Lillard's future has been one of the biggest stories in the NBA. The Blazers might have liked to get his trade request before the free-agent negotiating window opened, though.

Shelburne reported Friday that Portland agreed to a five-year, $160 million contract with Jerami Grant, a deal that was clearly made with Lillard in mind.

The most charitable view of the situation was that the Blazers had their backs against the wall and overpaid for Grant because they needed to convince Dame to stay.

Now, the contract is looking like a massive albatross on their payroll, and the organization is running headlong into the worst-case scenario this summer.

Compounding matters, the Heat probably aren't the team that can put the most enticing trade package together.

Tyler Herro is just embarking on his four-year, $120 million extension. The Blazers would have $78.7 million tied up for next year between just him, Grant and Anfernee Simons. And this is as the franchise is pivoting toward a new era.

Draft picks from Miami might also be of limited value when the team has never really embraced a long-term rebuild as long as Pat Riley has been there.

Working a deal with the Clippers carries some upside considering Paul George and Kawhi Leonard can opt out of their contracts next summer. You can envision a situation within the next five or six years where Los Angeles bottoms out after the PG/Kawhi cycle ends.

Trading Lillard to the Sixers, meanwhile, would at least potentially yield Tyrese Maxey, another young guard to pair with Simons. But along with Goodwill's report, Yahoo Sports colleague Jake Fischer reported Philly appears to "have no interest" in moving Maxey.

One can understand Portland's longtime reluctance to move Lillard and its desire to keep building around him despite the steadily diminishing on-court returns. That has nonetheless served to make the breakup even more painful.

The silver lining is that Cronin held onto the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft. Scoot Henderson will basically supplant Lillard as the new face of the franchise.