Damian Lillard publicly announces trade request, refuses to speak on Trail Blazers after Heat negotiations stall

Damian Lillard has confirmed his trade request for the first time since rumors broke about his desire to leave the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard reportedly decided against continuing his tenure in Portland after the franchise decided to keep their No. 3 pick which turned out to be Scoot Henderson.

In an interview with Andscape's Marc J Spears, Lillard opened up about his trade request, saying:

"I can say that there was [a trade request] and I would just prefer not to speak on the Trail Blazers."

Despite Damian Lillard reportedly expressing interest in joining the Miami Heat, the Portland Trail Blazers have been patiently waiting for the best deal possible. Lillard is under contract until 2027, with the final year of his deal being a player option. The Trail Blazers are under no obligation to move him right away.

The franchise scoring leader is their best bet to recoup quality assets to bolster their rebuild, so Portland is expected to wait for the right offer. That may have created some friction between Lillard and the Trail Blazers.

He's given everything he had in the tank to the franchise, but their refusal to work on a deal quickly may have led to him not speaking about the franchise after announcing that he asked for a trade.

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Damian Lillard's desire to get traded to the Heat could come to fruition as they resume talks with Portland

The Portland Trail Blazers are carefully assessing their options to optimize their returns in a Damian Lillard trade. Trail Blazers GM Joe Croncic made it clear last month that he's in no rush to negotiate a deal as soon as possible:

"In any deal, the goal is to come out with the best outcome," Cronin said. "So for us, that can be many different things. It can be more of a win-now player and that would be intriguing to us. It could be a young player and picks, and that would be intriguing. It could be just picks, we would look at that, as well."

According to Miami Herald's Anthony Chiang, the Heat have resumed talks with the Trail Blazers with training camp nears. The Heat may not have the package Portland wants, but with other teams potentially refusing to take a gamble on trading for Lillard, Portland will likely have to settle.

It also makes sense for Portland to stall negotiations with the Heat. Miami would prefer to have Damian Lillard donning their jersey on opening night. The Trail Blazers can secure maximum value from Miami with the delayed negotiations, as the Florida-based team might up their offer if the teams go back and forth on a package until preseason or beyond.