The Miami Heat have the second-best (+200) chance of acquiring nine-time NBA All-Star point guard Damian Lillard if the Milwaukee Bucks decide to deal him this offseason, according to online sportsbook Bovada.
They are barely behind the Orlando Magic (+150), who are in desperate need of a point guard and have a slew of draft picks to give. The Heat are trailed by the Los Angeles Lakers (+450), the Portland Trail Blazers (+950), and the Toronto Raptors.
The Heat have lost star power after moving Jimmy Butler, their unhappy former franchise player, to the Golden State Warriors at the deadline.
They are clearly no longer a contender and have sunk to the status of a marginal playoff team after being forced to compete in the play-in competition once more.
The Heat are now trailing 2-0 in their first-round series with the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Milwaukee Bucks, like the Heat, are trailing 2-0 in their first-round series against their Eastern Conference rivals, the Indiana Pacers.
Lillard has recently returned from a deep vein thrombosis that sidelined him since March 18. He admitted to being tired in his first game back after scoring 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting in 37 minutes in the Bucks’ 123-115 loss in Game 2.
If the Bucks fail to go past the first round for the third time in a row, they will have to make a huge choice this offseason.
Lillard, 34, is eligible for an extension. Following this season, he has one year of guaranteed pay remaining on his contract. He has a $58.5 million player option for the 2026–27 season.
Miami was Damian Lillard’s preferred destination in 2023.
Before the Bucks signed Lillard from Portland in the summer of 2023, the six-time All-NBA player wanted to head to Miami.
With the mutual desire between Lillard and the Heat revealed, Portland general manager Joe Cronin declined to talk with Pat Riley and instead sent Lillard to Milwaukee.
“It was anything to go against what I would have wanted,” Lillard told The Athletic’s Sam Amick in October 2023. “That bit was aggravating. I knew it wasn’t going to be Miami just from the way things were going. [The Blazers] had not spoken to Miami. So, once that happened, I started hearing about all these other strange teams. I said, ‘I’m probably not going to Miami.’ So I wasn’t holding on to it too tightly.”
“[The Heat] did everything they could to acquire Dame,” Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, told the Miami Herald at the time. “It takes two to get a deal done.”
No Jimmy? No Dame?
However, in a separate interview with Melissa Rohlin of Fox Sports in 2023, Lillard stated that playing alongside Butler played a significant role in his decision to move to South Beach.
“We’ve always been in some form of contact with each other,” Lillard stated. “When I first said it, I was like, ‘I want to go to Miami.'” He was an important part of that. It did not happen. I am here now. But our relationship will remain the same. The same respect. It’s simply something that didn’t happen. It was beyond his or my control.”
Now that Butler has left, will Miami remain an option for Lillard if he and the Bucks decide to part ways?
Any Lillard deal package must also include Tyler Herro, a Milwaukee native. However, given Herro’s ascension to All-Star status this season, it’s difficult to picture the Heat selling him for a player ten years his senior after their unwillingness to commit to Butler’s maximum contract.
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