A recent report claims that the Miami Heat are willing to make practically their whole squad available to negotiate a trade in order to get Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers.

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel suggested that the Heat would be willing to hand up anyone on the roster, with the exception of two players, in order to try and work out a deal with Portland during an appearance on NBATV.

The Heat are committed to this. Their time has come.Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers tweeted a picture asking for a trade, according to @IraHeatBeat.twitter.com/tLWxVUO6mA

July 3, 2023, NBA TV (@NBATV)

Put another way, they essentially piled up one of those Pods dumpsters in front of the Trail Blazers and told them to “take anyone out of here you want except Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler,” according to Winderman. It’s simply sort of ‘come and pick and choose and tell us what you want. Maybe they’ll go back and forth on Caleb Martin a little. Any other items are yours.

From Miami’s perspective, the guard Tyler Herro will almost certainly be included in any Lillard trade. According to earlier rυmors, the Heat preferred to keep Martin, but if the Blazers insisted on his inclusion, it appears like the Heat would give up.

It is essentially up to the Blazers at this point because Lillard wants to join the Heat. Portland has been shopping Lillard around the league, so the lingering issue is whether they believe they can get a better deal somewhere else.

Damian Lillard would be traveling to South Beach right now if he had his way. The seven-time All-Star told the Portland Trail Blazers of his desire for a trade on Saturday, citing the Miami Heat as his ideal destination. Despite Lillard’s preference, his contract does not have a no-trade provision, therefore he is not theoretically free to choose where he plays. According to Sunday’s report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Blazers’ front management has made it plain to any possible suitors that they are “open for business everywhere in the league.” The Boston Celtics are one of those prospective suitors, according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (via his #thisleague UNCUT podcast), who also claims that other clubs have enquired about the cost of acquiring Lillard.

Marc Spears of Andscape, who suggested that C’s standout and MVP candidate Jayson Tatum may don his recruitment hat in an effort to entice Lillard to Beantown, added fire to the Lillard-Celtics rυmors.

During an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today, Spears said, “I’m hearing Jayson Tatum is knocking on that door now too to figure out a way to get (Lillard) to come to Boston,” as reported by Brian Robb of MassLive.

Brad Stevens, the team president, will be pleased that the Celtics have entered the race to sign Lillard. This offseason, Boston has been aggrҽssive, selling Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon and dealing Marcus Smart, their longest-tenured player, for Kristaps Porzingis.

For the sake of salary-matching, the Celtics would need to sell off $41.5M in a hypothetical Lillard deal. Jaylen Brown, who has been widely mentioned as a target for the Blazers this summer, would be the most apparent candidate to send out.

Having said that, Brown, who is 26 and a consistent All-Star talent, is six years Lillard’s junior. Retaining Brown ought to be a top priority for Boston if it is truly interested in getting past this point without selling its future. even if it means losing valuable contributors like Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and/or Robert Williams III.