MIAMI — Three weeks from the start of training camp, there is zero question about the ultimate lingering issue for the Miami Heat, in what appears to remain a zero-sum game.
The team’s official roster tells that story.
More than two months since signing Josh Richardson for a reunion tour with the team, the Heat have yet to formally return Richardson to the No. 0 he wore with the team from his selection in the second round of the 2015 NBA draft to his 2019 trade to the Philadelphia 76ers for Jimmy Butler.
No. 0 remains available from the team, worn only by since-departed Meyers Leonard and Marcus Garrett since Richardson’s departure four years ago. No. 0 also is the number worn by Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, who continues to remain aligned to his stance of pushing for a trade to the Heat amid the Blazers’ rebuild.
As training camp approaches, speculation continues to ratchet up in the typical NBA spin cycle, with none of the parties involved directly addressing the situation.
For their part, outside of the delay with the numerology on the team’s offseason roster, with other acquisitions beyond Richardson also yet to be assigned numbers, no member of the Heat front office, coaching staff or ownership wing has publicly addressed the speculation.
The last formal comment from the Trail Blazers came in a hastily called media session on July 10 at the Las Vegas Summer League, when General Manager Joe Cronin said, “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 it takes months, it takes months.”
That comment came in the wake of Lillard’s camp making clear that not only is a trade desired, but that the Heat would be the only accepted landing spot.
In the wake of that messaging, the NBA issued a statement that read, “We have advised (agent Aaron) Goodwin and Lillard that any future comments, made privately to teams or publicly, suggesting Lillard will not fully perform the services called for under his player contract in the event of a trade will subject Lillard to discipline by the NBA. We also have advised the Players Association that any similar comments by players or their agents will be subject to discipline going forward.”
In the wake of that statement, the NBA last month fined Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden $100,000 for his statement that he would never again play for 76ers President Daryl Morey.
The Heat largely have remained in a holding pattern since, even as potential complementary pieces have come off the board in free agency.
The Heat, instead, have filled the roster in the interim with non- or partially-guaranteed contracts, contracts that quickly could be offloaded in the event of a trade for Lillard.
While the Heat currently stand at the NBA offseason maximum of 21 players under contract, only 13 players have been signed to the standard roster, which has a 15-player regular-season limit.
In recent days, reports have come out stating that Cronin would be willing to go into training camp and the regular season with Lillard, 33, on a Blazers roster that currently is more geared toward the development of young guards Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe, as well as that Lillard only would report for training camp with either the Blazers or Heat.
Among Heat players linked to potential trade machinations for Lillard have been Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez Jr., as well as various permutations of outgoing draft picks.
Both Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and Heat Assistant General Manager Adam Simon offered recent words of support for Jovic, who on Sunday shared in Serbia’s silver medal at the World Cup in the Philippines.
As for Heat players, Richardson and Adebayo both danced around the subject of Lillard during offseason interviews, with Lillard’s desire to play for the Heat coming in part because of his alliance with Adebayo on the Team USA roster that won gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
While NBA blockbuster trades directly ahead of training camp are rare, the Utah Jazz last year dealt guard Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sept. 3. And when Heat President Pat Riley arrived to the Heat in 1995, he acquired center Alonzo Mourning on the eve of the regular season.
In addition to opening training camp on Oct. 3, the Heat open their preseason schedule on Oct. 10 against the Charlotte Hornets at Kaseya Center and their 2023-24 regular season on Oct. 25 against the visiting Detroit Pistons.
The Heat are coming off a run to the NBA Finals, after finishing in seventh place in the Eastern Conference last season and advancing in the postseason through the play-in tournament.
In the absence of a trade, a possible season-opening starting lineup for the Heat could feature Adebayo, Butler, Herro, Lowry and Kevin Love.
With a move for Lillard, it potentially could leave the Heat with several lineup and rotation permutations to establish on the fly.
Because players signed in the offseason are ineligible to be dealt prior to Dec. 15 at the earliest, the only players on the Heat roster that currently can be put into trades are Adebayo, Butler, Herro, Lowry, Robinson, Jovic, Jaquez, Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith.
The belief inside the league remains that suitors beyond the Heat are reluctant to enter discussions regarding a player who has made clear a single preferred destination and who, at his age, is owed $216 million over the next four seasons.
Lillard is coming off a season when he averaged a career-best 32.2 points on a career-best .463 shooting.
