Damian Lillard news: After officially retiring following a colorful 20-year career, Udonis Haslem will no longer be part of the Miami Heat roster in 2023-24. This man’s presence as a true talisman is something the Heat will miss, regardless of the fact that he’s barely played over the past couple of years.
Be that as it may, Haslem remains confident in Miami’s chances this season — even if they failed to recruit Lillard in what turned out to be a high-profile botched deal with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Udonis Haslem Spills on Miami’s Failed Damian Lillard Pursuit
Speaking in a recent interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, Haslem admitted that he believed the Heat had an inside track on landing Lillard. This is after Dame himself declared his intention to move to South Beach as he demanded a trade away from Portland:
“I thought it was possible,” Haslem said. “Once he said he wanted to come to Miami, I thought it was possible.”
As we all know, however, it just wasn’t to be. It was the Milwaukee Bucks who ended up hijacking the deal at the 13th hour. For his part, though, Haslem isn’t crying over spilled milk:
“But I think one thing about us is we don’t worry about who we don’t have and what we don’t have,” Haslem continued. “We only worry about who’s in the locker room and what we gotta do. So if he would have came, welcome. But, we weren’t tripping. It’s part of the business.”
“Dame is a hell of a player. I like Dame. I really do like Dame. Who wouldn’t want Dame Lillard? But at the end of the day, we don’t really focus on what we don’t have and who we don’t have.”
Udonis Haslem Sends Stern Warning to NBA
While Haslem has admitted that he would have loved to see Lillard in a Heat jersey, this does not diminish his belief in Miami’s ability to compete for a title this year whatsoever. In fact, the three-time NBA champ is adamant that the Heat still remain to be the team to beat in the East:
“We gonna be fine. I still expect us to win the East,” he stated. “… I still expect the East to go through Miami. I don’t care what’s on paper.”
The Heat are the defending Eastern Conference champs and until that changes, it would be hard to argue against Haslem’s point here.
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