Heat Rumors: Miami TOP SPOT For Damian Lillard? Kasparas Jakucionis SPEAKS On Summer League Struggle

Heat Rumors: Miami TOP SPOT For Damian Lillard? Kasparas Jakucionis SPEAKS On Summer League Struggle

Welcome into the heat report by chat sports. I am your host Nick Rolloloff and we have a loaded show here today. Damen Lillard, is he going to be a Heedle? That is something that may come to fruition. Casper Yakonis has really struggled in summer league. He spoke on that. Plus, the Heat’s inseason tournament group was revealed yesterday. We’ll dive into all that on today’s show. But before we get into that, my roommate Patrick Seatman over at the Bulls Report said we couldn’t get 500 likes. He was dogging on the Heat fans. First of all, Bulls fans can’t say because the Chicago Bulls organization is an absolute joke. But I want to prove him wrong anyway. Let’s hit that thumbs up icon. Let’s get to 500 likes to say, “F Patrick Steven, the Bulls Report.” All right, the first part of today’s show will be on Damen Lillard. Does Miami make sense for Dame? We knew the Heat would be linked to the former AllNBA guard who got waved and stretched by the Bucks, but after the Norman Powell trade, does it make sense for Miami potentially to get him now that they do have an open roster spot? Well, we’ll start with what Kevin O’ Conor had to say. Notorious Heat hater, by the way. He actually said something positive for Miami when it comes to Dane. He said that him rehabbing in Miami, that fit is interesting. I lean towards Miami or the Lakers as the team that are the most interesting to me. The Celtics, I’m intrigued, but I don’t see it as much as Miami or as I do with the Lakers. So, that provides maybe a positive update on a potential Lillard signing if you are someone who wants Dame to finally come to the 305. Now, I do disagree with Kevin O’Connor to a degree. Um, I don’t understand the Lakers fit whatsoever. Is he going to play alongside Luca? Doesn’t make any sense. Is Dame coming off the bench in 2026 for Luca? I’m not so sure that would be the case. Obviously, in Miami, Dame would come back after his rehab for a year and likely be the starting point guard. Whether it moves Hero to the two or you move off of Hero before that, I mean, there’s just so many endless options for the Heat Front office. But I do think the trade for Norman Powell makes it more likely that the Heat sign Damen Lillard. One, because they didn’t have a roster spot open prior to the trade. Now they do have a roster spot where they can sign Damen Lillard and stash him for the entire 25 26 season. But I don’t want to make Norman Powell some needle mover, if you will, in the pursuit of Damen Lillard. But Dame and Powell have a very good relationship going back to their days as teammates and the Portland Trailblazers organization. So would it surprise me if Dame looked at Miami even in maybe just a 1% more positive light because they have a friend and teammate in Norman Powell? No. We already know that he has an extremely good relationship with Bameabio and Dame did not enjoy playing in Milwaukee. He didn’t like playing in the city or in that organization. We already know he would want to play in Miami due to the 2023 offseason. He’d be able to be with a pair of friends in Norman Powell and Bameabio and a organization city he wants to be in. Dame would be happier. Like I think there is a way if the Heat pursue Lillard that Dame does actually sign a multi-year deal on the Absolute Men, which is what it would likely be, to be a member of the Heat. Well, Brett Seagull, we’ll toss it over to him, reporting that Lillard and his camp have talked with several several notable teams in playoff contending positions. The Heat have long been linked to Lillard and both the Celtics and Warriors find themselves near the top of the list for Lillard as well. The point is this. Miami will absolutely be on the final list of teams that Damen Lillard is considering to sign with. If Pat Riley in this front office want to sign Lillard, they will be right there at the end. And to me, the final four teams for Dame are pretty clear-cut here. It’s either going to be the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, or Los Angeles Lakers. I think it’s likely that he could go out west. Now, I am skeptical of the fit with LA and Golden State because is Dame and Curry going to play together in 2026? I don’t know. Is Dame going to be a backup to Curry? I feel like that’s pretty far-fetched. And the same thing could be said with the Lakers. Is he playing alongside Luca in 2026? Is he going to be the backup? I don’t know. In Miami, he would be the starting point guard in 2026 after coming back from the Achilles injury. And same thing with Boston. And to be honest, Boston’s the team that scares me the most. And I almost would rather sign Dame even if it doesn’t make sense for the Heat just so he doesn’t end up going to the Boston Celtics because that makes the most sense to me. And Far Simons is on an expiring contract. If they ultimately keep him, Dame rehabs, Tatum’s rehabbing. Tatum and Dame both come back in 2026. They have a grouping of Dame at the one, White at the two, Jaylen Brown at the three, Tatum at the four, and fill in your five. That That’s a cheat code. like he can’t go to Boston. They would be so good in 2026 with Tatum and Dame both coming back from injury and they take a gap year and probably have a lottery pick this upcoming draft. Like we somehow can’t let Dame go to Boston. I like I’ll say that over and over again. I would sign Lillard just to make sure he doesn’t go to Boston because I do not want to see the Celtics win another championship. And I do believe they would win one, not this year, but the year after when Tatum and Dame, if he went to Boston, ultimately come back. Predict it for me. Where does Damen Lillard sign? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments section. Predict it. I think it’s one of those four teams I mentioned. Maybe it is Miami. Finally happens. We’ll see. Final little note here on Lillard. I’m torn. I want to keep a roster spot open for flexibility in a trade. whether you need to take multiple contracts back while getting rid of Terara Rosier or take multiple contracts back in trading Andrew Wiggins and wanting to keep that flexibility is important to me, but it’s also hard for me to pass up on signing Damen Lillard for what would likely be the Vetmin or like by annual $5 million per season. Like you look at what Miami has here for their roster. Like think about it. Hero has two years left. Powell isn’t expiring. Wiggins has two years next year being a player option. So like even if Norman Powell leaves, which I actually think Miami will end up extending him at some point. We’ll see. Like you have a roster that in 2026 could be very, very dangerous. Like Dame rehabs this year. You see what you got in your young guys and you let that play out how it plays out. Let’s say you did sign Dame. He comes back. You have a starting lineup next year of Dame, Hero, Wiggins, Bam. And where third year where Hero another leap forward, Wiggins, another step, Bam is right there. And then if you extend Norman Powell, you have him coming off the bench where he’s been a top five six-man of the year candidate two of the last three seasons, you still got Yovic, if you extend him, and DaVon Mitchell coming off the bench. Like, that is a pretty really that’s a pretty elite top eight, man. It really is. So to me, I think Dame could make a lot of sense for Miami if the Heat are set on letting the young guys play this year, taking a gap season and then being a really big force in terms of contending for a title in the Eastern Conference during the 2026 season. We’ll see how it plays out. But that is why you subscribe to the channel because we will bring you daily heat coverage and make sure you’re covered every single day on the latest around this basketball team. and we just crossed 24K subscribers yesterday. I appreciate everybody who has joined the channel recently. I promise you, you will not regret it. We bring you videos every single day during the season. We have watch parties every day or for almost every game as well. So, next on the milestone list is 25K, which is unbelievable to fathom. We got to 24 for Haywood Highmith. Can we get to 25K for Cass versus Yakonis, the Heats Rook? Let’s get there soon. Join the channel. Speaking of Yakachonis, well, he has really struggled in summer league and he spoke on why he thinks that might be and I wanted to share his thoughts and as well as my thoughts on the Heat’s rookie. And there’s no way to sugarcoat it. It has been as rough of a first three games in summer league, specifically the California Classic, as it could possibly have been for Yakonis. You look at what he did in the three games, averaging about 22 minutes a night. He scored 12 points in those three games. He had only six assists, 12 turnovers. That’s not good at all. He shot one for 15 from the field in 0 of 11 from three. Like, if you scripted the worst possible three-game stretch for Yakonis that you could have possibly imagined for the California Classic, I’m 99.9% sure what you just saw on your screen would have been the nightmare scenario. Now, with that being said, I am not going to overreact to what Yakachonis has done at the California Classic to this point, and I feel as if too many Heat fans, at least on Heat Twitter. We’ll see. I don’t know how y’all feel in the comments. I’ll be looking more from today’s show, but I feel like people are really doom and gloom on Yakos. And I think that’s just irresponsible cuz there has been elite players in the NBA to have issues in summer league. Sometimes when you are drafted really young like an 18 or 19 year old, which Yakonis is, it takes you some time to get used to NBA physicality, NBA speed. It’s different from college and it will probably be a learning curve for him in the regular season as well. But you see some really topend players in the NBA struggle in summer league. Curry shot 32% from the field. LeBron shot 36.9%. Trey Young, which I probably think is the best comparison for Yakonis in terms of struggles, shot 38% from the field in summer league and turned the ball over just as much as Yakonis has early in his summer league career. So, it’s like I don’t feel like it should be something we overreact to. As you see with here with the team player shooting percentage, summer league does not define an NBA players career. And if we’re going to be honest, the real NBA summer league has not even started yet. This is just the California Classic. The real summer league where Miami plays four games and then a guaranteed fifth game. Um, depending on if how they do in the first four games. Obviously, if they go 3-1 or 4-0, they might be in the winners bracket like they were last year. If they go two and two or worse, they’ll likely just play a random fifth extra game. Um, but we’ll see how Yakonis does in these five games. I would expect improvement to come for the Heat’s rookie. If it doesn’t come, am I going to overreact? No, I’m still probably not. Like, do you want to see your rookie ball out in summer league? Absolutely. It’ll just create even more hype and it’ll get you excited. But it is not the end of the world if he ultimately continues to struggle because he’s not playing with real NBA players at this point. And he is not working with the main Heat coaching staff and developmental system that he will be for the rest of the summer and in training camp and during the season. He’s also just 19 years old. I am not overreacting right now. And in a second, we’re actually going to show what the Yakon has said about summer league and how he has struggled. But I first want to make sure you know about this unbelievable deal. Look at this heat shirt on sale. $16 right now. It’s usually 30. When you go to chatports.com/heatshirt sale, you can get a shirt for damn near 50% off. Sizes are running out. Not sure how long this sale is going to continue to be out there. So, take advantage today. Links in the description and comments of today’s video. Let’s kick it over to Yakonis now because I want to share what he said to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald about how he has struggled in summer league to this point. Yakonis says that he thinks he needs to settle in more, play at his own pace, don’t get sped up as much as I was in these three games. I didn’t feel like myself in these games, but I think that’s normal. It’s a process. So, I’m just happy to be here, be able to learn from coaches, from other guys by working out, watching film, and understanding the game. I think I’m just not in a rhythm. I’m just trying to get back in a rhythm after all the process I had. So, I’m just trying to get back to myself and just trying to execute as hard as I can. When I go to the court, I just give 100%. Even if I don’t do the best on offense, I try to give 100% on defense and try to help the team win. Don’t sell stock now, he fans. I’m I’m telling you. I am telling you right now, the people that are selling Yakona stock are making a mistake because even as he has struggled turning the ball over with his shot so far in the California Classic, he has still given you a 100% offer on defense. And I think his defense has actually been better than I would have expected it to be at this point in summer league. As well as making the extra effort type of plays, diving on the loose ball. The guy’s a competitor. He just wants to win. And I tweeted this out yesterday. Y’all selling Yakona stock already? Cool. I’ll buy. I I I’m taking a mortgage out at the bank so I can buy more Casper versus Yakona stock. I was high on him in the pre-draft. He was sixth on my overall big board. I was yelling, screaming, and celebrating that the Heat need to take him. And when they did take him at 20 overall in the draft in late June, he is going to figure it out. I am not concerned. and he will be a contributor to the Miami Heat. Will I guarantee it being a highle contributor this season? No. I maybe might have overestimated how early he would be able to have an impact, but he will be an impact player for this organization at one point in his career. I have no doubts about that. People forget that Nicole Yoic was drafted at 18, 19 years old and he didn’t even play his entire first season as a professional. And look, now he’s one of the most pivotal players on this Heat roster. Before we close out the show, do want to get your thoughts though. Are you worried about Yaka Chonis? Type Y for yes, type N for no. We’re closing out the show here in a second. But let me know your thoughts down in the comments section. I teased it off the top. I did want to show the Heats inseason tournament group. Not that I care that much about the in-season tournament, but I know some people do, and it does add a little bit more competition throughout the regular season, especially in those early months in November and December. The Heater paired up with the Knicks, Bucks, Bulls, and Hornets. And I got to be honest, it’s kind of a tough group. Like you look at the rest of the Eastern Conference groups and it’s really nothing special, but New York, I would argue, is either one or two in the entire Eastern Conference this year. The Bucks are going to be competitive. I think the Bulls and Hornets are scrappy as well. I would slot in Miami, honestly, personally, as the second best team in this group. We obviously know how it works in the inseason tournament where the top four teams um from each conference make it the the group winners and then a wildcard team. So maybe Miami can put together a three in one or 4-0 group play where they beat Milwaukee, Chicago, and Charlotte. Maybe they were able to take down New York. Who knows? And they make it to the uh knockout portion where they play in Vegas, the Heat in the first two seasons of the inseason tournament. have failed to make it out of their group stage in that point. But like I said, it really has no impact on anything um when it comes to the NBA. It’s just an added intrigue, if you will. But I did want to show it because we do pride ourselves on covering the Miami Heat in every facet. So I wanted to bring this up and you would have known about this actually yesterday because I tweeted out the Heat inseason tournament group when it was revealed by the NBA. So, if you want more coverage and want to be the most up-to-date Heat fan you could possibly be, you got to be subscribed. But you got to follow me over on Twitter because I have you covered in between videos. Speaking of videos, I’ll see you again tomorrow. Go Heat.

Miami Heat rumors on July 10th, 2025 discussed by Heat Report host Nic Rohloff on this Miami Heat YouTube video:
– Damian Lillard remains the top NBA Free Agent available during week 2 of 2025 NBA Free Agency. Lillard rumors suggest the Heat, Celtics, Lakers, and Warriors are the likely Damian Lillard destinations. Lillard will continue to rehab from his torn achilles; keeping him out for the 2025-26 NBA Season.
– Miami Heat rookie Kasparas Jakucionis has STRUGGLED during Miami Heat Summer League at the California Classic. Jakucionis had 12 TO compared to 6 assists, and spoke to the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang about the early issues at the NBA California Classic.
– The NBA announced the NBA In-Season Tournament Groups on July 9th. Miami is paired up with the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Charlotte Hornets, and Milwaukee Bucks.

Bulls Report host Patrick Siepman said the Heat Report can’t get 500 likes! Let’s prove him wrong!

INSANE SALE! Miami Heat shirt on sale for $16 when the shirt is usually $30! Grab yours today: https://www.chatsports.com/HeatShirtSale.

Heat president Pat Riley tried to trade for Damian Lillard in the 2023 NBA Offseason. Miami Heat rumors point towards the Heat trying to sign Lillard in NBA Free Agency this offseason.

The 20th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Kasparas Jakucionis, has been one of the worst players on the Heat Summer League roster. Nic is not concerned about the early struggles for Jakucionis.

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Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor on Damian Lillard:
“Dame Lillard, post torn achilles, rehabbing with Miami…That fit is interesting for him…I lean towards Miami or the Lakers as the teams that are most interesting to me. The Celtics, I’m intrigued but I don’t see it as much as Miami or as I do with the Lakers.”

Prove you KNOW ball by answering today’s questions in the comments:
– Where does Damian Lillard sign?
– Are you worried about Kasparas Jakucionis? Type ‘Y’ for Yes or ‘N’ for No

Want more from the Heat Report? WATCH more YouTube videos here! 📺 👀:
– Miami Heat Rumors: MASSIVE Andrew Wiggins Trade Update! No Wiggins Trade?:

– MAJOR Miami Heat Rumors AFTER Norman Powell Trade Ft. Andrew Wiggins, Terry Rozier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exw2g3M3EEY
– 🚨JUST IN: Heat Trade For Norman Powell In 3-Team Trade | Miami Heat Trade News – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loKxZjtD3u8

Miami Heat 2024 Coaching Staff:
Head Coach: Erik Spoelstra
Assistant Coach: Chris Quinn
Assistant Coach: Malik Allen
Assistant Coach: Caron Butler
Assistant Coach/Player Development: Octavio De La Grana
Assistant Coach/Director of Player Development: Anthony Carter
Assistant Coach/Player Development: Eric Glass
Head Athletic Trainer: Wes Brown
Player Development: Rob Fodor
Director of Basketball Administration: Scott Gurka
Director of NBA Scouting/Advance Scouting: Chas Kammerer
Analyst: Bob Chaikin
Video Coordinator: Dan Bisaccio
Executive Assistant to the President: Remy Ndiaye
Video Room Interns: Mario Casamajor, Maggie Maranz, Phillip Leibham

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