Multiple reporters have cited sources who said the Trail Blazers hadn’t discussed a Damian Lillard trade with the Heat — Lillard’s preferred landing spot — since July.
According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, the last dialogue the two sides had was a phone call at Summer League between Blazers GM Joe Cronin and Heat GM Andy Elisburg. Miami wanted to set up an in-person meeting in Las Vegas to have further discussions, but it never transpired, per Haynes.
“How this summer played out behind the scenes definitely left a sour taste in my mouth,” Lillard told Haynes. “But it doesn’t change the amazing experiences I’ve had with the Trail Blazers and this city. I’ll always cherish this place. This is my home. I’ll always live here regardless.”
The situation became acrimonious almost immediately, as the Blazers felt Lillard’s trade request had put them at a negotiating disadvantage, while Miami believed Portland was acting out of emotion instead of understanding the league is a business, Haynes writes.
Following a lengthy period of inactivity, Aaron Goodwin, Lillard’s agent, suggested that Cronin meet with Lillard in the event that the longtime star returned to the team.
As Haynes details, at the meeting on September 5, Lillard expressed his disappointment with the situation and wondered why there hadn’t been any communication between Portland and Miami. He didn’t want to be traded anywhere else and noted that he’d been willing to sacrifice for the team.
Specifically, Haynes cites sources who say the Blazers asked Lillard to sit out the final 10 games of last season to boost Portland’s lottery odds. Lillard was told a top pick would improve the front office’s chances of trading it for a win-now veteran. Lillard reluctantly agreed, with the team citing a “calf injury.” Portland ultimately kept the pick and selected Scoot Henderson No. 3 overall.
According to Haynes, Cronin told Lillard at the September 5 meeting that he planned to extract every possible asset from the Heat if he had to deal with them. Realizing that was unrealistic, Lillard responded by saying if he couldn’t land in Miami, he’d prefer to rescind his trade request and return to Portland.
Cronin told Lillard he couldn’t come back, which “shocked” the 33-year-old, sources tell Haynes. Lillard was “discouraged” that he couldn’t return to the Blazers, but he also didn’t want to be somewhere he wasn’t wanted, so he ended the meeting.
Shortly thereafter, the Blazers — who were frustrated with their offers at that point — refused to communicate with Lillard and Goodwin for almost three weeks. Portland didn’t want Goodwin meddling in trade talks, which is how the team rationalized the decision, per Haynes.
With Cronin refusing to talk, Goodwin came up with a contingency plan, letting both Milwaukee and Brooklyn know Lillard would be interested in joining those two teams. Haynes is now the third to report that information regarding the Bucks and Nets.
The NBA actually got involved on September 23 because of the contentious communication breakdown, Haynes writes. Cronin agreed to have dialogue with Goodwin at that point, and a few days later Lillard was traded to the Bucks.
Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo admitted he has mixed emotions about the trade, he told Haynes.
“It’s a bittersweet day for the city of Milwaukee,” Antetkounmpo said. “You get Dame, who is a great player, but you lose a great guy. Jrue (Holiday) took us to the promised land. I’m 10 years in now. I know it’s a business. At the end of the day, Jrue will alway be be my brother for life. He’s one of the best human beings I’ve been around. But we’ve got to focus on the goal to win the championship. Dame wants this. He’s hungry to win, and he’s going to push us. I’m very happy to have him on our team.”
Haynes’ story for Bleacher Report has more details and quotes and is worth reading in full.
Here are some more notes related to the three-team blockbuster:
- In a series of Twitter posts, Lillard sent a heartfelt thank you and goodbye to Blazers fans, teammates, coaches, employees, the media, and more. In conclusion, he wrote, “As this chapter of my life ends, I look back and realize how special it was. Even in this moment I feel sad that we never accomplished what I so badly wanted to. I don’t cry much, but I know my love for you is real because I am for sure dropping some tears right now. Rip City you know my heart and where I stand because I’ve stood there for over a decade so to have to move off my square hurts my heart. … I do believe a day will come where I put on a Blazers uniform on again, and hopefully by then I’ll be forgiven for breaking your hearts along with my own.”
- Center Deandre Ayton, who was sent to Portland in the deal, also sent a thank you message to the Suns (via Twitter).
- Only Lillard and Holiday will be required to report and pass physicals as part of the deal, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter links), who adds that Holiday can’t be traded until both players pass their physicals. The Blazers owe the Bulls a top-14 protected first-rounder through 2028, and if it conveys that summer, Portland’s ’28 first-round pick swap with Milwaukee will be voided, Marks reports.
- The Blazers generated an $8.8MM traded player exception in the deal, while the Suns got a $1.1MM TPE, per Marks.
- In another tweet, Marks notes that Holiday can’t be aggregated with other salaries for two months, though he can be traded on his own (or with one or more players if his salary isn’t aggregated with theirs).
- While multiple reports have now said Goodwin reached out to Brooklyn, NetsDaily.com hears the Nets were never interested and only discussed Lillard with Portland one time, in July. The Nets simply didn’t believe Lillard could turn them into a contender and were wary of his age and long-term contract, per NetsDaily.
- Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype explores what’s next following the deal, while Sam Vecenie of The Athletic evaluates the trade for the Bucks, Blazers and Suns.
Damn, the Portland GM sounds like a douche.
Sounds like but most gm would after being played by Dames agent.
Bottom line is it’s a nasty business.
Portland should hold holiday. Will see if he gets flipped like projected.
Nah sounds like a regular person with ethics…
When you get screwed by someone you tend to do less favours for them…
Ethics? Where? Cronin wouldn’t trade Dame to o Miami out of pure spite. In the end this worked out better for Dame but screw Cronin.
He would have upgraded Miami more since he would have replaced a hole. In MIL he replaces maybe the best defender at his position out of NBA starters so even though he is really good so is Jrue. I think the real F up was MIL doing this since at best theyre marginally better. MIL could have used other contracts and these assets to upgrade around the starters instead of a lateral move for a different type of good starter and assets out the door.
Wrong he wouldn’t trade him to the Heat because they couldn’t put together even a half way decent offer.
Dame played years with them, they continued to roll out the same non contending team. When they had CJ they should have traded him earlier. They didn’t trade picks and stayed in limbo, most picks didn’t develop. They didn’t move Nurk earlier when the league was clearing changing to positonless.
They gave the guy a $200+ million dollar contract and just traded him to one of the best teams in the league. Lillard is clearly such a martyr for having to put up with all of that.
Yeah some people think just because Dame can hit a 3 means he’s entitled to get paid and be traded to wherever he wants…
It doesn’t work like that…
*They gave him 200+ million while telling him they’d contend, trade picks, and instead did the exact opposite. Idk, I’m not generally very nice to liars, are you? Obviously they have to do what’s best for the organization, and I don’t blame them for taking the Bucks offer over anything Miami could have done, but the Blazers definitely could have done right by the org without being two-faced about it for seven+ years. They made two wholly positive moves since Aldridge left in FA. That’s pathetic.
You are blaming Cronin for 7+ years? Why? Seems irrelevant to the topic at hand. And Dame is on a championship caliber team… what’s the problem?
I’m blaming the Blazers as an organization, referring to BlackAce, who is acting like Dame should have zero gripes with Portland because they paid him. Not how anything works.
Fair. I agree with that.
The first two years of this contract we were a lottery pick. One year devoid of a first rounder. In order to trade to be a contender, you have to have assets. The only real asset those two years was Dame himself. The majority of the blame should go to Olshey, who traded two firsts for RoCo and seemed bound and determined to make us both the shortest AND the worst defending team. Dame is #2 on the Bucs. If he was #2 here behind a Giannis, he’d maybe have made the finals. Olshey was a nothing burger, Cronin the jury is out.
And a minor detail, I believe 9 of the 11 years were Olshey.
We were a nothing burger under Stotts. Stuck in lower seed limbo while Olshey made horrid moves. Dame signed that new contract. He didn’t have to. But he took up a huge chunk of the cap and there were poor roster choices made (RoCo, Powell, Hood, Nance). All Olshey roster adds which moved nobodies needle. What great assets did Cronin have?
hardly
So this report sounds like it’s exclusively Dame’s account (from his agent no doubt). So now we have his story and the Heat story, but not the Blazers. Stay tuned. Honestly though, the Blazers GM comes out looking just fine, looking out for the good of the team rather than being sentimental about it. Maybe a bit tough, but it’s a business and no one likes being manipulated. Worst possible outcome for the Blazers is Dame returns after demanding a trade and hamstringing the team by saying Miami or bust. Of course they said no. That’s a no brainer and I don’t believe for a second Dame or his agent were surprised by that. You don’t get to take back a trade demand, especially not THAT trade demand. Anyway, in the end it came out fine for both parties.
That agent tries too hard and failed his client…
After all he could of guided his client to Miami not create a situation where any team could out bud Miami because Miami felt too comfortable they’d get him and never raise their offer…
Scarlett, you don’t bet against yourself. Raising and re-raising their offer only benefits the Blazers and other teams that might try to outbid them, not the Heat. Goodwin did wrong here, but Miami wasn’t wrong to hold pat until discussions moved. And it sounds from surrounding reports (not just here) that the Blazers weren’t willing to trade with Miami at all, not unless they were willing to sell their whole franchise for just Dame, which isn’t good faith negotiation either. Can’t blame Cronin for not wanting to, but that was Daryl Morey-esque, reminding me of when the Cavs asked about Harris and he asked for Mobley, Garland, and a first or something ridiculous like that.
You also don’t go in with a trade proposal, not get any traction, and then sit and wait. What did they think would happen? Nobody in the East wants to help this team get the piece they need.
They shouldn’t negotiate against themselves, but just standing around motionless for months while other teams figured out what they need to do is also not a good move.
This all sounds like sour grapes to me from everybody that got the calculus wrong. Dame went to a champ, which is what he wanted. They didn’t really even owe him that, but they got it done, given the loyalty, yada, yada. The rest is all about the rebuild and the only person going to be evaluated on that front is Cronin and he’s off to a great start.
They were looking around for trade partners for the third team, not sat there and did nothing. What did you expect them to do, trade Bam or Jimmy and completely defeat the point of adding Lillard? Portland said “we don’t want Herro, give us Bam or Jimmy” and they said “how about we find someone else to take Herro and give you the results from that trade?” and Portland went radio-silent. That’s not just from this report, multiple sources have pointed that out.
Did Cronin do a good job? Sure he did! But Miami wasn’t wrong to not re-up their offer when Portland outright ignored them. And it sounds like they tried to re-open discussions after Raptors talks came out and Portland *still* ignored Miami. That’s what I mean by bad faith.
Where did you hear MIA was looking around for trade partners? It’s been quiet all summer…
I agree, trading either of those guys makes no sense. I’m not even blaming MIA, but if they wanted in on the trade, they sure didn’t act like it. It is odd to say POR should have done differently. Dame asked for a trade to MIA because he wanted a chance to compete. He got most of what he wanted and the reason he didn’t make it to MIA was a tactical error. They let the backdoor man get in on the action. :)
Litteraly there isn’t a single GM in the league who would’ve traded with Miami in Portland situation. They didn’t have the assets to out together even a decent offer for Lillard. The Bucks offer was far better then anything Miami could’ve done.
Sounds like… deliberate tanking. 750k fine right?
…sources say… probably true, but unlikely to be proven, and again seems like someone throwing a tantrum and trying to do damage to the org.
Dame has an oversized ego…
That’s all that was needed to be written to explain his position this summer…
Cronin is D-bag, that’s all I got from this.
Cronin gained a lot of respect from me after Dame and his agent threw him under the bus…
Great move to not cave in and get a better return than he could of from Riley…
I think that he did right by the team, but Cronin also loses points with me for point-blank refusing to work anything out with Dame after he decided to ignore Miami. It’s not like the Bucks were the only team that could’ve traded for Dame. Dame’s agent did a dick move. Cronin refused to cave, so Dame wanted to work something else out. THEN Cronin refused. Don’t like that. If Cronin had said “okay, we’re going to trade you, but we’re willing to try and work something out that benefits *both* of us, are you willing to?” That would’ve been great. Instead, he essentially told Dame to screw off.
“Dame’s agent did Portland dirty first!” And? Two wrongs don’t make a right. Both Goodwin and Cronin come out looking bad here imo. That Dame’s still willing to show love for Portland and work with the Bucks is pretty much exactly what you’d expect out of him.
Dame’s agent poisoned the well. I had rose colored glasses and was reading this as a coordinated effort with Dame and the FO. But clearly that was not happening. So from hearing this reporting now, I see this as a situation where when someone shows you who they really are, trust them. Dame’s agent threw goodwill right out the door immediately. He showed he is only going to extract the best deal for Dame regardless of what POR needs… well then, he is a liabiliy in any further discussion with anyone else. He gets what he gets and good luck.
I just have an issue with Cronin acting like Goodwin personally insulted him and doing everything possible to deny the trade Dame wanted. It’s unprofessional. As I said, the actual trade was a solid one. Goodwin literally was just doing his job, which is to get the best offer for his client. Everybody is acting like this is unusual. Anthony Davis did the same thing. Paul George too.
Keep in mind, these reports are coming from those who either missed out on the trade or didn’t get to weigh in on the result. I’m sure when the Portland FO weighs in, it will be all strategic business negotiations, incredible analytics forecasting, and 3D chess angles. Ofc the truth will be somewhere in the middle.
And Goodwin was just doing his job? Well, he made an enormous tactical error at the beginning and got left out. And Dame was still taken care of. And, by this metric then, no foul on Cronin’s part, he was just doing his job….
Precisely. The bottom line Miami waited after an initial offer. Now how that offer was presented? Who cares? They weren’t going to trade Bam. Every report I read was Herro as the notable body. Sorry, but I’ll take Ayton over him anyday.
Yeah,the Portland Front Office continues to look worse and worse
Not sure why any decent player would want to go there knowing this is the FO waiting for you lmao
Not sure why any team would want players who let their agents tank their reputation the way Dame’s agent tanked his…
Especially at Dame’s age you gotta play nice or end up looking like Harden…
He still went to a championship caliber team. What’s the problem?
Perception. Grades in the trade are the Blazers did well. Dame went to a winner. Jrue is probably more marketable than Herro. Doesn’t matter. A good trade for Dame and the Blazers.
Jrue is a far better asset then Herro on every level. Which is made clear by pretty much every contending teams GM trying to work out a trade for him right now. If Miami out Herro on the trade block right now the offers wouldn’t be a fraction of what Portland will get.
Absolutely 100%. Damage control after the fact is for the rubes. They gambled and lost. I don’t blame Dame, I think his agent handled it poorly.
The real bad guy here is Aaron Goodwin. It all went south when he publicly announced Dame is being traded to Miami, and other teams shouldn’t attempt to make a deal. Had he not done that, then Dame’s request stays private, and he’d likely be on the Heat right now without all the hard feelings between the Portland and Miami management.
Good to see some intelligent comments here…
All this Dame got treated badly by Cronin crap is garbage… Dame and his agent played the low card first…
Had this been handled like Drexler’s exit from Portland, the entire vibe would have been different and probably the results too. But the increasing screechiness of the social media world .. well .. didn’t old Bill Shakespeare get it right when he talked about a “brave new world”, which was presented as a Shangri-la, and in reality was a horror?
Dame declares he wants to play for Miami…then he’s shocked that Portland doesn’t want to keep him? That left a sour taste in his mouth? What team would want to keep a player that pulled that crap? Dame looks bad even from his own account. “I wanted out and then I was like, fine I’ll stay and the team didn’t want me anymore? I don’t get it” Absurd.
Exactly. And he did it once, why not again. The last two years we were a lottery team, zip in the way of assets. Those last two years at 50 mill. She 37? Lol. Thank god we traded that.
So glad the trade finally happened so we don’t get hourly updates on the hostility between Lillard/his agent and the Blazers front office, because it was getting old…
Cronin really did himself proud. I didn’t think he had it in him. For the benefit of the league, I’m happy to be proven wrong. He was put in an almost uniquely difficult position, and he navigated it as well as anyone could.
As for the other parties involved (Lillard, his agent, MIA and the onlooking players, agents and teams), hopefully they learned something. One can hope.
Good post. Agree.
It sucks that Dame is gone but he has only himself and his agent to blame for being traded. They put the team in a horrible situation and they still did him a solid and sent him to a championship contender. Stop whining.
To blame? He didn’t want to be there, how does that make sense?
He never had a choice. There’s nothing in the CBA about a player being traded to where he wants to go.
Portland should be lucky Lillard doesn’t blow the whistle. Asking a player to sit out for better draft position and fake an injury is against league rules.
Obviously, he already did by telling Haynes and having him report it.
Only thing that’s needed is proof. Right now it’s hot air from a disgruntled agent.
The inmates are running the asylum! How is it the teams fault when he signed a huge free agent contract and then declares that he not only wants to be traded, but he wants to pick the team he’s traded to!
He had his chance to leave! It’s called free agency.
If I’m Portland, there’s no way I would trade him to the Heat. Just another prima donna player.
Dame got what he wanted, a trade. Cronin did right by him by sending him to a legit contender for a better haul than Miami could offer. The rest is posturing noise and it doesn’t matter. He’s gone. A good trade for the franchise.
Yo know what… I can’t wait to see Dame win a championship in Milwaukie! Go Bucks!!!!
I can’t understand Portland going silent when Dame wanted to come back. Scoot isn’t a PG anyway. It’s even less understandable when after the trade, they intend to move Holiday?
Bizzare!
Holiday is a good trade asset for a contender. Portland is not a contender currently. He also has a player option for next year and presumably wants an extension, provided he a) likes the city/team he’s on and b) has a shot at a chip.
Since Portland won’t be a contender for probably another 3 years, it makes little sense to hold onto him for a year and have him walk away for nothing.
So, they flip him now, or before the deadline, and get young players/picks/whatever it benefits them, him, and likely whatever team he is traded to (in the short term, as he may accept his option or agree to a slightly lower dollar extension).
In short, he’s much more valuable to Portland as a trade chip. It also serves as an extension of the return they get from trading Dame. AND he was the most valuable (as a keeper or trade piece) than anyone else apparently was willing to offer. Oh, and they seem to have really wanted Ayton, and I guess this was the only way they could get him included somehow.
Getting Holiday was an astute move. He’ll get a nice return from a contender who wants to win now. In the West, that isn’t the Blazers.