Damian Lillard Has One Reason To Choose Heat Over Celtics

It might be in Damian Lillard’s best interest to choose the Miami Heat over the Boston Celtics.

With Lillard and the Celtics reportedly having mutual interest, Celtics fans are salivating over a potential union. But Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor reminded everyone on Saturday why Boston might not be the best situation for Lillard.

“I think for Dame there has to be some appeal in Boston because you don’t have to be ‘the guy’ when you get back (from injury),” O’Connor said while appearing as a guest on CLNS Media’s Garden Report program.

“You have (Jayson) Tatum. You have (Jaylen) Brown, you have Payton Pritchard … you can rest, you can load manage (while recovering) from the Achilles injury. There’s probably not a better situation from that standpoint.”

That’s when O’Connor also pointed to potential downsides to Lillard joining the Celtics.

“But if you’re Damian Lillard, do you want to go to a team where you might be the backup point guard?” O’Connor said.

“It’s Derrick White and these guys … (why not) go to a team where you’re gonna be the starter and you’re gonna get opportunities to go back and be Damian Lillard again? And so I think for him, a team like the Miami Heat offers that to him more so than Boston does.”

O’Connor’s point suggests that a juicy arms race might emerge between two Eastern Conference rivals for Lillard’s services. Then again, if Boston’s loaded depth chart at guard is the main deterrent for Lillard, there’s nothing the Celtics could do to fix that, short of moving on from White or Pritchard, which would be unwise.

Lillard’s big decision could ultimately come down to whether he wants more touches or a greater chance of contending.

Miami’s no slouch, but it’s tough to see them being in a better position to contend in 2026-2027 than the Celtics’ core.