The Bradley Beal trade between the Wizards and Suns means the Miami Heat have even more pressure to acquire Damian Lillard from the Trail Blazers.
The Suns won the Bradley Beal sweepstakes on Sunday, reaching an agreement to add their third star in exchange for Chris Paul, Landry Shamet and draft picks.
Now the Miami Heat are feeling the pressure…and it may be self-inflicted.
The Heat were a finalist for Beal, but even then reports emerged that the team would prefer to land Damian Lillard from the Trail Blazers. They’ll either get their wish or nothing with Beal off the table.
And apparently that’s a risk they were willing to take.
NBA Rumors: Heat believe Damian Lillard will push way out of Portland
NBA Insider Chris Haynes tweeted that Miami is focused on Lillard “with the genuine belief this could be the offseason the veteran guard seeks a change of scenery.”
The Heat could just be making excuses to placate their fanbase after losing out on a star but the dynamics of this whole scenario fit the puzzle.
Beal had all the power with a no-trade clause. If he wanted to go to Phoenix over Miami, he had the ability to make it happen. However, reports suggested there was mutual interest between Beal and Miami. They were considered the favorites to land him because they had more valuable draft picks to use as trade assets.
The fact that Miami lost the battle to sign Beal to the Suns suggests they made the calculated choice to wait on Lillard instead of going all-in on the Wizards star.
In the end, that may prove to be a wise choice, but it all depends on Lillard requesting a trade out of Portland and then the Heat outbidding other hopefuls like the Nets.
That’s a pretty huge risk that could leave Miami looking around at the end of this offseason without either of their major targets.