Damian Lillard has requested a trade from the Trail Blazers and the Miami Heat are one of his top destinations.
The Miami Heat has been on the cusp of winning the NBA Championship over the last 4 seasons. They have made the Eastern Conference Finals three times and the NBA Finals twice.
In both of their Finals losses, it was clear that the Heat were the far inferior team because as great as Jimmy Butler was, he simply couldn't do it alone. Since superstar Damian Lillard has struggled with the grind in Portland and is looking for a change, the Heat are a perfect suitor for Damian Lillard.
In order for the Heat to pull off a trade with Portland, they would have to give up a minimum of Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson just for the salaries to match. Here are the top 5 players on the Heat if Damian Lillard gets traded there, assuming they aren't included in the deal.
Best players on Miami Heat after Damian Lillard trade, No. 5: Kyle Lowry
Kyle Lowry is now entering his 18th season at age 37. Last season he averaged 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists but his splits weren't that great as he shot 40.4 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from 3. In the postseason he did play a little bit better when he came off the bench as he averaged 9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists on 42.5 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from 3.
If the Heat were to get Damian Lillard in a trade to keep Kyle Lowry, Lowry would become the 6th man for this team. At this point in his career, that would be the perfect role for him. Lowry will be asked to primarily be a playmaker for this team as he should have plenty of other scorers around him. Having those extra scorers should make his offensive job easier he will get a chance to shoot high-percentage shots.
He is the fifth-best player on the Heat with Damian Lillard because the Heat will give up a huge amount of depth on their team to get Lillard. The Heat also lost a bunch of key role players like Max Strus to the Cavs and Gabe Vincent to the Lakers. Other players who could be at this 5th spot are Kevin Love and Josh Richardson but Lowry will be asked to play a bigger role than both of those players off the bench.
Best players on Miami Heat after Damian Lillard trade, No. 4: Caleb Martin
One of the biggest heroes in the Miami Heat's incredible playoff run was Caleb Martin. In the regular season, Martin averaged 9.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 46/36/80 splits. These numbers are perfect for a solid role player but in the postseason Martin took a leap. He averaged 12.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 53/42/83 splits.
The thing that was the most impressive was Martin's performance in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics. He averaged 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists on tremendous shooting splits shooting just over 60 percent from the field and 49 percent from 3.
Martin's playoff performance would keep him untouchable in a Lillard trade. The Heat should keep him because he is the perfect fit in this lineup. If his playoff performances are anything to indicate how he'll play next season, he will become the Heat's fourth-best player.
He provides great floor spacing because he is capable of shooting over 40 percent from 3 and is also a great mid-range jump shooter. In the playoffs, he was getting to the rim at an elite level, getting finishes over guys like Robert Williams. Most importantly the thing that he provides to this team is grit and defense. He finished the season with more defensive win shares than Paul George and had the same defensive rating as Paul George.
With Lillard on the team, Martin becomes at best the 4th option. He won't be asked to do as much as he did this postseason where at times he was the best player for the Heat. He will have a bigger role to play than guys like Josh Richardson, Kyle Lowry, and Kevin Love but not bigger than the 3 guys in front of him.
Best players on Miami Heat after Damian Lillard trade, No. 3: Bam Adebayo
Bam Adebayo has been the second-best player on the Heat since Jimmy Butler's arrival. Bam is a 2-time all-star, in 2020 and 2023, and has been selected to the All-Defensive second team the last 4 seasons. Bam had one of his best seasons yet where he averaged 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks on 54 percent shooting from the field.
For most of the postseason, Bam took a step back as he averaged 17.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists on just 48 percent shooting from the field. In the NBA Finals, Bam was the Heat's best player as Jimmy Butler did not show up. Bam averaged 21.8 points, 12.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists on 46 percent shooting.
In a Damian Lillard trade, Bam is also untouchable because is a key piece behind the Heat's success. He's the anchor of the defense and a big representative of Heat culture. Dame would want to have Bam there as they can form a legit big three with Butler, Dame, and Bam.
Having those three players on your team, it is more than obvious that Bam is the worst player of those three and would be the third-best player on the Heat. By no means is having Bam Adebayo as your third-best player a bad thing as you would have a great shot at winning the Championship.
Best players on Miami Heat after Damian Lillard trade, No. 2: Jimmy Butler
Jimmy Butler has been the biggest ambassador of Heat culture over the last four seasons. In his 4 seasons with the Heat, Butler has averaged 21.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.9 assists on 50/27/85 splits. Shockingly, he's only made two All-Star teams in those four years and made three All-NBA Teams.
Most impressive is Butler's ability to ramp up his level of play in the postseason. In the playoffs, he averaged 24.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.7 assist and 1.9 steals, on 48/34/83 splits in his 4 playoff runs on the Heat.
There has always been a point in the playoff run where Butler seems to run out of gas, because he hasn't had a reliable co-star throughout the playoff run. This is where Damian Lillard will help out the Heat in a massive way. More importantly, Jimmy will be the second-best player on the Heat.
As mentioned before, Butler's numbers in the regular season are nowhere near his numbers in the playoffs. It is more than likely that Butler only goes 75 percent throughout the regular season so he can ramp it up in the playoffs, which is why he's only made two All-Star teams in the last four seasons.
Based on his interviews during this playoff run, the only thing that matters to Jimmy Butler is getting the win. There have been multiple times where we see Butler take a back seat to a player who had the hot hand, whether it was Caleb Martin, Kevin Love, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, or Gabe Vincent. In a scenario with Damian Lillard being on the team, this is a possibility.
Best players on Miami Heat after Damian Lillard trade, No. 1: Damian Lillard
If Damian Lillard were to be traded to the Miami Heat, he would become the best player on the team. Last season Lillard averaged 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 7.3 assists on 46/37/91 splits. If there is one player in this league that can match the 3-point shooting of Steph Curry, Lillard is more than capable.
For the past two seasons, Damian Lillard has been plagued with injury and is the reason he hasn't made the postseason since 2021. In that postseason Lillard averaged 34.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 10.2 assists, on 46/45/96 splits. He is more than capable of maintaining that throughout an entire postseason run as it is very similar to his regular season numbers this year.
At the end of the day, Lillard is more capable than Jimmy Butler to play at an elite level more consistently. This will more than likely be the case, at least in the regular season. Dame has played better than Butler over the last decade in the regular season. Dame does have an All-NBA first-team selection to his name.
In the postseason, Dame and Butler have played at a similar level but no one should be surprised if Dame outplays between the two. Butler is more than happy to take a backseat because the only stat that matters to him is the amount of wins his team has.
Even though it's a toss-up between Dame and Butler on who's the best player for the Heat, they both finally get the co-star they need in order to compete for an NBA Championship. You shouldn't be surprised if they do end up winning the title.
