New ‘serious’ suitor emerges in Damian Lillard trade pursuit, according to insider

The Miami Heat have sat back and patiently waited to see how things pan out on the Damian Lillard front following their initial pursuit of the Portland Trail Blazers star. At least, that’s how it seems to be at the current moment. But while the season draws near and we get closer to regular season action, the looming topic of Lillard’s future remains a big one, especially since there hasn’t appeared to be any major competition next to the Heat, Lillard’s reported preferred destination.

Until now, it seems.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, there’s now another “serious suitor” in the mix for Lillard, as hte Toronto Raptors have now emerged. Stein revealed this info on his Substack while explaining that several teams around the league believe the Raptors’ interest “is genuine.” Not surprisingly, those same teams reportedly believe the Raptors are “hesitant” due to Lillard’s desire to land with the Heat.

While there’s obvious risk involved with a potential blockbuster deal for Lillard if it’s headlined by any team other than Miami, we saw this work out just fine for them once before, as they acquired Kawhi Leonard and went on to win a championship. But while there were a few preferred destinations for Leonard in that situation, the one with Lillard looks and feels a whole lot different, as the All-Star guard doesn’t appear to have moved off his focus of heading to South Beach.

It’d be nothing short of a shock to see Lillard traded anywhere other than the Heat at this point, as a hypothetical team striking that deal would need to exceed Miami’s offer. Even beyond that, they still risk Lillard showing up and asking for a one-way ticket to Miami.