Damian Lillard requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Miami Heat but there has been little movement in those offseason talks.

MIAMI — Tuesday marked a month since Portland guard Damian Lillard requested a trade to the Heat, and there remains no indication that the Trail Blazers are eager to accommodate his request — at least not yet.

According to a source with direct knowledge, the Trail Blazers have remained disinclined to engage the Heat in serious trade discussions, according to a source. There has been minimal communication recently between the teams, as of early this week.

Why has Portland seemed disinterested in trying to work out a deal with Miami?

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski explained it this way:

“The problem is Portland looks at what Miami has, doesn’t love it, and keeps hoping something better is going to come along. It may or may not.

“You get into the dog days of summer, lots of GMs, team presidents, owners who are involved in these conversations, they’re going on vacation. Teams aren’t engaged. There are no deadlines looming and that certainly has slowed up this process.

“Miami is not going to bid against itself and keep upping its offer when it doesn’t think Portland necessarily has anything comparable. This is why this is dragging out and why it may continue to drag out.

“The next real deadline is the start of training camp in late September. That certainly will be a moment of truth for the Portland organization.

“Do they want to bring Lillard back into camp with all of this swirling around or do they at that point take the best offer they can get out there? Do they take it into the season? But right now, there has just not been a lot of engagement among teams on a Lillard trade.”

The Heat remain hopeful that conversations can be revived at some point this summer.

The Athletic reported that another Heat offer is expected soon, built around three or four first-round picks, Tyler Herro, an expiring contract (Kyle Lowry’s could facilitate a trade) and perhaps a young player.

But a source in touch with the Heat said Miami has no incentive to increase its offer unless Portland shows a willingness to make a deal — which it hasn’t to this point. Lillard has not expanded his list of preferences beyond Miami, according to a source.

“Miami remains a team most motivated that has enough assets to eventually perhaps outbid the market,” Wojnarowski said.

There’s no indication that any other team, beyond the Heat, has made a legitimate offer for a 33-year-old player who’s due $45.6 million, $48.8 million, $58.5 million and $63.2 million over the next four seasons.

“That’s part of what I think is holding up the trade market,” Wojnarowski said. “(And) part of why there is perhaps not the feeding frenzy people thought there might be for a Damian Lillard trade.

“It is not because teams think that if we traded for Damian Lillard, he wouldn’t play hard for us [or he] would be too unhappy here or wouldn’t make for a good enough environment for him, for us, to take him on. That has not been the issue with teams. It has simply been the idea for a lot of teams, his age, the idea of paying him over $60 million at 35, 36 years old, the last two years of his deal.”

One veteran NBA assistant coach, who played in the league, said both the Heat and Portland would be hurt if trade talks linger into the season.

That person, who is not authorized by his team to speak publicly, sized up the situation this way:

“Miami has more pressure to get it done because they’re playing for something. What is Portland playing for? The chemistry you have to develop when you get Dame, you have less time to do it if you get him at the [February] trade deadline.

“The longer you have him in the fold, the more time you have to assess the strengths of your roster and develop a chemistry. You get him in January, February, you have less time to acclimate and your chances of winning a championship are reduced.

“Miami needs to get it done sooner than later because it will take a while for them to come together and you lost some of your chemistry with Gabe Vincent and Max Strus. Dame would fit so perfect with Jimmy (Butler) and Bam (Adebayo).”

The veteran assistant said Portland also has something to lose by dragging this out.

“I’ve been through this, on my teams, with disgruntled stars,” he said. “If Portland brings him to camp and they think they’re going to get his best, they’re sadly mistaken. He will handle it like every other player in this situation. Is he going to go all out in training camp if they make him come to camp?

“He’s a total professional, but bringing him to camp totally disrupts the team. We know he doesn’t want to be there. Are they really going to force him to play?

“Nobody wants the player to get injured, so they go half speed in training camp. Portland is acting like maybe he’ll change his mind. I’m telling you from experience, the longer this goes, the more Portland will tell themselves, ‘Maybe he will change his mind. He loves Portland.’ I don’t think he will.”

The NBA person said “the Heat has more leverage because he doesn’t want to go anywhere else and nobody is going to bid too much because of his age and contract.”

So what’s reasonable for the Heat to offer, besides Tyler Herro and first-round picks?

“Maybe Jaime Jaquez; he has value. He has toughness, he can defend. Herro should have more value than what people are saying. Guys that can score and shoot off the dribble, there’s value here.

“Getting picks next year is not a priority for teams. The 2024 draft is not as strong as 2025, 2026 are expected to be. Portland knows that.”