Here’s the reality: On a Lillard trade, the Blazers are nowhere. Miami, Lillard’s preferred destination, has made an offer. Portland doesn’t like it. The Blazers have encouraged other teams to make offers.
So far there haven’t been any, at least not serious ones. Whether it’s Lillard’s contract (with four years and north of $200 million left on it) or his
Miami-or-bust messaging (
as delivered by Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin), a market beyond South Florida has not materialized. And the Heat know it.
“I think the teams that have ended up in the most positive situations post-trade have been the ones that have been really diligent in taking their time,” Cronin said. “They’ve not been impulsive, or the teams that really kept their urgency under control. I think that’s how my approach has been with this and will be with this. We’re going to be patient, we’re going to do what’s best for our team, we’re going to see how this lands. And if this takes months, it takes months.”
Months? Well … maybe. Lillard, understandably, would like clarity, the sooner the better. Portland, though, needs a return. A
big return. A Durant-level package sets the Blazers up for years. A
Bradley Beal–type deal could set them back.
“In any deal, the goal is to come out with the best outcome,” said Cronin. “So, for us, I mean, that can be many different things. It could 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, and we would look at that as well. For us, it’s how can we maximize this return? And I don’t think we have any set parameters; we would evaluate each deal case by case and choose the best one.”
