Why Heat Not Trading for Damian Lillard Helps Magic

After missing out on Damian Lillard, the Miami Heat needs to bolster their backcourt, and the Orlando Magic presents two options.

After an entire offseason of projecting Damian Lillard to be traded to the Miami Heat, the NBA world was shocked when the Portland Trail Blazers shipped out their superstar to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team deal that also included the Phoenix Suns. 

With the Bucks now favored to win the East, a lot has stayed the same for the current iteration of the Orlando Magic. The team is still building around young talent and is not close to “win now” mode, although it is an emerging team in a top-heavy Eastern Conference.

Current roster constructions do not impact the Magic any more than other teams in the league, but after what can only be described as a disappointing offseason for the Miami Heat, Pat Riley and company are desperate to get back to the NBA Finals. Adding Lillard was supposed to make Miami a shoo-in to win the East, and now they need to make moves to bolster their roster.

Enter the Magic. With Tyler Herro still being shopped around the league, the Miami backcourt could be left in the hands of Josh Richardson, Kyle Lowry, and Duncan Robinson. While Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler are among the league’s best talent, 37-year-old Kyle Lowry is not reliable enough at this point in his career to be counted on come playoff time.

Markelle Fultz patrols the perimeter against Anthony Edwards.  / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

The Heat needn’t look far to find a team with a plethora of guard depth and motive to part ways with an option. The Magic has been rumored to be shopping around Cole Anthony, who is a reliable floor general who can keep the offense steady. Or if the Heat want a more proven talent, the Magic could be talked into trading away Markelle Fultz. Neither Anthony or Fultz can be considered first-option players on Miami’s offense, but if Lowry goes down, there wouldn’t be a void.

Miami has intriguing young talent in Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez Jr. They also have first-round picks to trade in 2027, ‘28, ‘29, and ‘30. In an ideal world, the Magic would be competing by then, but Fultz will be past 30. Those picks would still have value for Orlando.

With Fultz’s reputation as a bust and Anthony’s overall lack of experience, the Magic could, at best, trade one of the guards for either a pick, Jovic, or Jaquez. Even that is highly optimistic. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and Pat Riley–the Godfather of the NBA–needs to keep his Heat competitive. A trade with the Magic isn’t his only option, but Orlando only stands to benefit from Miami missing out on Dame.