Heat Insider Reveals Where Miami Stand on Damian Lillard Trade

Will Damian Lillard ever get his wish and be traded to Miami? One insider gives the latest on how the Heat are proceeding.

Since July, the Heat have been prepared to offer the Blazers a package which includes, “three to four first-round

picks — with Tyler Herro going to a third team for assets — expiring contracts, a young player such as Nikola Jović

and potentially second-round picks and draft swaps”, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports.

There has been no traction from Portland on this, however Miami’s beat reporter Ira Winderman says the franchise

isn’t giving up on a Lillard deal.

“The reasons you make trades are twofold,” Winderman wrote. “The first reason is to upgrade your core in a win-

now setting. The other is to set up your future. With Jimmy Butler to turn 34 before the start of the coming season,

the Heat are in that first, win-now category. So you start here: To win right now, is Damian Lillard an upgrade on

Tyler Herro for the 2023-24 season? I believe most would agree. Then you look at having to shed other pieces and the impact on your core.

“The Heat have already shown they can win without Duncan Robinson, albeit a Max Strus replacement would be

needed out of the developmental program. And it’s not as if Nikola Jovic is weeks, months or even a season away

from being a rotation player for a championship contender.

“So part with those four plus a pick or two (or three) and you basically have done little to damage your core. Now,

when you get to Caleb Martin or a ready-now Jaime Jaquez Jr., that is when you would take pause. So you can give

up a lot. What you can’t give up is too much.”

Whether or not the Blazers will come to party still remains because as much as it wouldn’t disrupt Miami’s core,

trading Lillard rips out a huge chunk of Portland’s playmaking and scoring ability.

As always with this Lillard trade, they’ll no doubt be more to come.

It is the news many Lakers fans have been waiting three years for and now it looks like a statue to honor Kobe and

Gigi Bryant will be erected outside of Crypto.com arena.

The date is rumoured to be the 8th of August 2024, which will be about four and a half years since their tragic

passing, DailyMail.com reports.

“The promised Kobe Bryant statue outside LA’s Crypto.com Arena will incorporate his daughter Gigi and – in a nod

to his jersey numbers, 8 and 24 – will be unveiled by the Lakers on August 8, 2024, an inside source has told

DailyMail.com,” Russ Weakland and Alex Raskin said.

“Lakers owner Jeanie Buss previously revealed plans to erect a statue for Bryant after he, his 13-year-old daughter,

Gigi, six friends and a pilot died in a helicopter crash in January of 2020.

“The source tells DailyMail.com that Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, is involved with the plans, but cautioned that an artist

for the piece has not yet been chosen.”

A bronze statue of Kobe and his daughter was placed at the crash site in California, though there weren’t plans to

keep it there permanently.

So to have one outside of the Lakers home would be a fitting tribute to the Lakers legend and Gigi, who was also a

talented basketball prospect.

Naturally, there have also been talks about LeBron – the greatest scorer in the history of the game, getting his own

statue outside Crypto.com arena as well.

Although, many NBA fans and media personalities alike agree that a Kobe statue should take priority.

“They gotta worry about getting that Kobe statue up first,” ESPN”s Matt Barnes told TMZ Sports in March of this

year. “But obviously, LeBron is an all-time great, so I’m sure they’ll find a way to honor him with a statue.”