Ira Winderman: Lament Lillard if you must, but the Heat answer isn’t a Zach attack

With Damian Lillard poised to make his first appearance with the Milwaukee Bucks in South Florida on Tuesday at Kaseya Center after a summer that saw him rerouted elsewhere in the wake of his pointed trade demand, something rather remarkable happened this past week for the Miami Heat on the NBA rumor mill.

Nothing.

Amid a circumstance seemingly as rare as Lillard’s bold gambit to request to solely be dealt from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Heat, Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls both all but acknowledged that separation is inevitable, the rare team-player acceptance of disconnect.

Enter the Heat rumors.

Enter the Heat conjecture.

Enter the Heat . . . silence.

Oh, there were those who linked LaVine to the Heat, threw Tyler Herro’s name into mix, sated speculation by also opining about Jaime Jaquez Jr. as a trade chip.

All the while, crickets from the Heat side of the equation.

Yes, the Heat have done midseason moves before, big midseason moves, moves for Tim Hardaway, Shawn Marion, Goran Dragic and more recently Jae Crowder, Andre Iguodala, Trevor Ariza, Victor Oladipo even last season’s buyout addition of Kevin Love.

But those moves were conducted largely in the Heat cone of silence, nothing like getting caught up in the weeks-on-end offseason speculation of Lillard or Bradley Beal or Kevin Durant (over and over and over).

The reality of team chemistry is that there ultimately will be time to mend fences during offseasons when deals don’t come to fruition, as was the case this summer with Herro, who had been all smiles and decidedly upbeat until his unfortunate ankle sprain.

So what about LaVine, who became a one-man soap during the Heat’s four days in Chicago?

It was remarkable to watch it all come apart in real time.

First the Heat arrived amid a non-denial from LaVine regarding reports of his seeking brighter vistas elsewhere.

Then there seemingly was a refusal to shoot early in games for the slow-starting Bulls, three shots in the first half last Saturday against the Heat, four shots in the first half two nights later against the Heat.

From there, a run-in with a team staffer over a refusal to conduct a scheduled postgame interview after the first of the two Heat-Bulls matchups, a game the Bulls won.

Then there was this beauty, when asked about the Bulls only falling behind 12-2 on Monday night to the Heat after a timeout was needed two nights earlier with a larger deficit at the outset, LaVine offered, “We weren’t down 20-1 this game, so that’s a positive.”

Of the LaVine incident with the staffer, Bulls coach Billy Donovan said during Monday’s pregame session before the Heat rematch, “You want everyone treated well, even more so with everyone trying to help them do their job. You can make the job easier for somebody.” Donovan also added of LaVine, “I see a guy on the floor that’s trying to win.”

In many ways, Donovan is like Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, refusing to throw players under the bus. Donovan even more so, to the degree that he might not even have a bus.

So, no, it hardly was a two-game showcase of the 28-year-old guard pitching himself for relocation to Heat culture.

That’s not to say that another scorer wouldn’t make sense for the Heat. It would.

But the right scorer. At the right price — in terms of both trade assets going out and salary absorbed.

LaVine is under contract for $40.1 million this season, $43 million next season, $46 million in 2025-26 and then a player option of $49 million for 2026-27. For Lillard, you pay. For Beal, there was Heat hesitation. For LaVine, that is $10 million above each Herro season for a player who doesn’t have anything close to a similar playoff resume as Herro (or a playoff resume, at all, with four career playoff games, not counting LaVine falling in the play-in round late season to the Heat).

And if you don’t trade Herro for LaVine, are Herro and LaVine in any way complementary?

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo aren’t going anywhere. In many ways, Jaquez, even at this nascent stage of his NBA career, stands as the anti-LaVine, in terms of drama-free development. And you don’t toss in future first-round picks on such a deal when there remains the possibility of a draft package for something more Lillard-like.

So, yes, Tuesday’s visit by the Bucks  will rekindle some of the the Summer of Lillard when it comes to one that got away. But as the Heat return home after a trip that had them parked in Chicago for a four-day sideshow, there also is the reality that the next big move also has to be the right big move.

IN THE LANE

STILL GOING: Despite standing 14th on the Dallas Mavericks’ payroll, former Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. has revived his career as a full-time starter for the first time since 2020-21 with the Portland Trail Blazers, the only previous time he has been a regular starter. The irony is that a miscommunication almost had Jones with the Mavs in 2019. That’s the offseason when Dallas thought it was getting Kelly Olynyk and Jones as part of Heat machinations to land Jimmy Butler in free agency. Jones instead stayed with the Heat in 2019-20, before leaving for Portland in free agency the following summer. “I feel that thus far in my career, I haven’t gotten the recognition that I think I deserve,” Jones told Dallas’ Morning News. “And I feel like this year is just going to be the year.”

TUCKER’S TRAVELS: The goal when P.J. Tucker left the Heat for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2022 offseason was to get paid and play alongside James Harden. Tucker got paid, a three-year $33 million contract at age 37. Only now, the assignment alongside Harden comes with the Los Angeles Clippers, as part of 76ers’ trade that sent Harden west. From starting with the 76ers, Tucker has become more of a complementary piece with the Clippers. “I went from 30 minutes starting, to playing 10 minutes coming off the bench,” Tucker told the Orange County Register. “It’s a huge adjustment for me. I probably have the most adjustment than anybody. But I’m a professional. I come in and do my job every night, do my job and leave it out there on the court in the time I get.”

NEW VISTA: Instead of lamenting the offseason loss of Max Strus, coach Erik Spoelstra said in Cleveland that the Heat view it as a success story. “These are those moments that you’re just happy for a guy even when the business wasn’t able to make it work with us,” Spoelstra said, with Strus going from the NBA minimum to a four-year, $62.3 milloin contract with the Cavaliers.  “We’ve gotten over that a long time ago. We make a promise to these guys. We want to make it work and we want to make you get your dreams regardless of what happens, whether it’s with us or not. I loved the time that he was with us. I loved getting to know him and his family, an amazing family. They were fully part of Heat Nation.”

Speaking of: Heat center Bam Adebayo had some fun with the moments ahead of Wednesday’s reunion with Strus. Asked about seeing Strus, Adebayo said with a smile, “He sucks. Bad teammate. Terrible teammate. Never want him on my team again.” Adebayo followed up with just how special it was to be teammates. In the spirit of the sarcasm with his former teammates, Strus then took the court by flashing a playful bird at Jimmy Butler before the opening tip.

NUMBER

3 or 4. With Saturday’s game in Brooklyn ending the Heat’s season-opening run of 12 of 17 on the road, the Heat are next guaranteed at least a three-game homestand. That potentially could be four, based on the NBA’s scheduling once the quarterfinalists are determined in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.  It also is possible that after Saturday, three of the Heat’s next six are on the road, also based on the In-Season Tournament.