MIAMI — Too Lillard too late? Well, yes and no for the Miami Heat.
Two summers after their trade pursuit of Damian Lillard fell on the deaf ears of the Portland Trail Blazers, the Heat yet again could be in play for the All-Star guard.
This time, though, as part of a waiting game.
Having been dealt in the 2023 offseason from the Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks, and then having signed a two-year, $122 million extension with the Bucks, Lillard was stunningly waived Tuesday by Milwaukee as part of a reshuffling of their roster.
Forecast to be sidelined for the upcoming season after tearing his Achilles in the playoffs, Lillard is now free to be signed by any team, possibly a team willing to pay him for the upcoming season in order to have his rights going forward when healthy.
As could be expected in light of their very public pursuit of Lillard in the 2023 offseason, the Heat are among potential landing spots for the 34-year-old who has been an All-Star the past three seasons.
The Bucks’ move with Lillard was part of a dramatic shakeup of the Eastern Conference, moves that have come as the Heat have been idle since MondayÃÛèÖÊÓƵ start of free agency.
The Bucks waived Lillard with plans to stretch his remaining salary over the next five seasons in order to create the needed cap space for their surprising signing of Indiana Pacers center free-agent center Myles Turner.
Ahead of the move for Turner, there had been questions about the direction of the Bucks and what that potentially could mean for the future of perennial All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who long has been linked to Heat interest.
Now the question is where the Pacers stand in the Eastern Conference hierarchy, having lost Turner on Tuesday and in their season-ending loss in Game 7 of the NBA Finals two weeks ago, having lost All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton with an Achilles tear of his own.
As for the Heat, while a play for Lillard would mean taking a long view on a return to East contention, the rest of the conference already has made notable gains, from the Atlanta Hawks adding Kristaps Porzingis to the Orlando Magic adding Desmond Bane to the Cleveland Cavaliers trading for Lonzo Ball.
When it comes to moves in real time by the Heat in the wake of last seasonÃÛèÖÊÓƵ 37-45 finish and record-setting opening-round blowout loss to the Cavaliers, the lone addition to this stage of note has been the first-round selection of Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis.
The difference for the Heat in comparison to others in the East has been a lack of roster space. The Heat currently have 14 players under standard contract for next season, one shy of the NBA regular-season maximum: Davion Mitchell, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Haywood Highsmith, Kyle Anderson, Kevin Love, Terry Rozier, Keshad Johnson, Pelle Larsson and Jakucionis.
When it comes to a potential 15th player under standard contract, a return by 3-point specialist Duncan Robinson remains in play for the Heat, despite Robinson on Sunday invoking the early-termination option on his contract to enter free agency.
As for Lillard, the guard pushed for a trade to the Heat in the 2023 offseason to the degree that the NBA stepped in and warned his representation about publicly commenting on such a singular preferred trade destination.
Refusing to be strong-armed into a trade to such a stated destination, the Blazers at that time also declined to take calls from the Heat.
The Heat roster composition, however, is significantly different than when Lillard targeted the Heat two summers ago, with forward Jimmy Butler since dealt to the Golden State Warriors at FebruaryÃÛèÖÊÓƵ NBA trading deadline.
When Lillard expressed his interest in the Heat two summers ago it was with the Heat coming off an appearance in the NBA Finals. The Heat have since won one playoff game, losing 4-1 to the Boston Celtics in the 2024 opening round and then their 4-0 sweep at the hands of the Cavaliers.
When it comes to a potential play for Lillard, the Heat have a variety of spending options.
Among them are all or a portion of the $14.1 million mid-level exception, the $5.1 million bi-annual exception or remaining trade exceptions from deals made last season ($16.1 million from sending out Butler; $3.1 million from sending out Josh Richardson).
Utilization of such exceptions would, in turn, hard cap the Heat for the coming season.
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