The Miami Heat are trying to trade for Damian Lillard, but one player is off the table for now.
A tidal wave of signings and trades have set the NBA offseason in motion. Right now, the world waits for bated breath to learn the next home of seven-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard, who officially requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.
It was a long time coming for Lillard, who will now seek to join a contender elsewhere. The running favorite — and Lillard's explicitly preferred destination — is the Miami Heat, who were three wins away from the NBA championship last season.
The Heat will now try to put together a trade package enticing enough for Portland to grant Lillard's request. Miami is willing to put a lot of assets on the table, but one player is currently being kept out of negotiations.
Miami Heat and Damian Lillard don't want to include Caleb Martin in trade
According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, the Heat are building a package around Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, and draft capital. One player the Heat are keeping out of negotiations for now: Caleb Martin, who finished one vote shy of the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award.
It would appear that Lillard is on the same page.
It's natural for Lillard to want to play with Martin, who shined quite bright during the Heat's improbable Finals run. Martin is a bullish perimeter defender and quality 3-point shooter who flashed previously unseen talent as a driver and pull-up marksman in the playoffs.
He averaged 19.3 points and 6.4 rebounds on 73.8 TS% in the Eastern Conference Finals, which almost earned Martin series MVP honors over Jimmy Butler.
Whether Martin's red-hot playoffs performance is sustainable or a flash in the pan, we won't know until next season. It's probably safe to peg Martin's valuation somewhere between "3-and-D role player" and "best player on a Finals team."
The entire Heat's entire supporting cast played out of their minds this postseason. Martin is good, but the odds of him being so good that Miami should rebuff a Lillard trade over him is, frankly, comical. Lillard's leverage here is limited. He doesn't have a no-trade clause and he's under contract for four more years. Unless Portland bends to his will, any trade that doesn't include Martin qualifies as malpractice for Portland.
The Heat don't have many young players or future assets. Martin is one of the few Miami rotation players who can potentially command value on the trade market. If the Blazers are going to sacrifice their future to grant Lillard's Miami-centric request, they should at least get two playable rotation players (with future value) in Herro and Martin.
Lillard and the Heat want Martin to stay put. Portland shouldn't let that happen.