Did Damian Lillard drop a hint about a pending trade to the Miami Heat? That depends on who you ask and how much you read into an Instagram Live.
Lillard’s Portland Trail Blazers selection of Scoot Henderson with the No. 3 pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft seemed to indicate that a trade may be happening soon — or at least that one is possible. After all, it’s hard to figure out how a pair of 6-foot-2 point guards would work together. Lillard, meanwhile, has only made those rumors, louder, though perhaps unintentionally.
Lillard posted an Instagram Live recently. In the background, Will Smith’s song, “Miami,” was audible.
Dame went on IG live with “Welcome To Miami” playing in the background. Lol now Damian… pic.twitter.com/XlmlSCm9eF
— BEAN 🏁🏁🏁 (@MGRADS) June 23, 2023
And there was more to it than that. Sam Amick of The Athletic noted that “The DJ also played the Whitney Houston classic ‘I wanna dance with somebody’ that includes the lyric, ‘I wanna feel the Heat with somebody.'”
So, is this just a coincidence? According to Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, that’s exactly what it is.
“The music was just a coincidence,” Goodwin said, per Amick. “Damian’s not disrespectful. He’s not an instigator, so he’s not going to do anything out of character. There would be no reason for him to do that. That’s why he laughed (in the video). It’s a funny coincidence that a DJ would put that on.”
Others, though, were less than convinced.
Stop trolling and just demand Miami already @Dame_Lillard https://t.co/nxX1MPEUHk
— 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙏 𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 (@HeatvsHaters) June 23, 2023
Dame: "I dont want to be traded"
Also Dame: https://t.co/aDhXUC3321
— David Portillo (@DPORTILLO_0) June 23, 2023
Almost no one will begrudge Dame if he does ever request a trade out of Portland.
But this is starting to feel like Dwightmare 2.0. https://t.co/b2IjB3aIGr
— Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) June 23, 2023
Damian Lillard to the Miami Heat? Makes an awful lot of sense, honestly… https://t.co/H4UP1v9Oz0
— John Frascella (Football) (@LegendSports7) June 23, 2023
Adding to the speculation is that if Lillard were to be traded, the Heat are arguably the best possible destination. Gabe Vincent is set to be a free agent. Additionally, he scored only 15 total points over the final three NBA Finals games. So, scoring from the backcourt is definitely a need for Miami. Lillard could provide that.
[The Athletic, @MGRADS on Twitter]
