This past offseason, the Miami Heat seemed almost certain to land Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers after the star guard named them his preferred landing spot in a trade.
The Heat coveted Lillard and offered nearly everything they had to pair him with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
However, Portland ended up trading Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, forcing Miami to revert to plan B.
Their backup plan was to pursue Jrue Holiday, who was traded to the Trail Blazers as part of the Lillard deal.
Holiday was a perfect fit for head coach Erik Spoelstra, but he was traded to another Eastern Conference rival, the Boston Celtics, via NBA Central.
Seeing Lillard and Holiday leave the conference hurts, and according to Ethan J. Skolnick of 5 Reasons Sports, Miami was willing to throw more trade assets for Holiday.
“Jrue’s contract is more amicable. He plays defense, which the Heat value, and Lillard is in the midst of a max contract extension, whereas Holiday is up for his own extension, which would be much less expensive than Lillard’s.
Holiday’s fit as a two-way guard who doesn’t always need the ball in his hands is a better fit next to Butler and Adebayo, though they’ll have to make do with who they currently have on the roster.
Although the Heat have had a slow start to the season, they always seem to come alive in the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see what they look like then.
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