Longtime sports radio host Dan Le Batard on Monday shared a scorching-hot take about the ongoing Damian Lillard trade talks, and it was one that seemed to puzzle Kevin Durant.
Le Batard first took aim at ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, accusing the longtime insider of being a mouthpiece for the Portland Trail Blazers. Le Batard believes the Miami Heat are confident they have the best offer on the table for Lillard without involving a third team because Tyler Herro is part of the deal. There has been talk of the Philadelphia 76ers entering the mix and sending Tyrese Maxey to Portland, but Le Batard doesn’t understand why Maxey is being viewed as a better asset than Herro.
“There’s not calls going back and forth. Portland can do all they want with Woj and send out all sorts of smoke signals about pressure,” Le Batard said. “It’s the offer, and (the Heat) are saying, ‘Show us someone who is better at that age that you’re going to get anywhere in the league from anyone, given that Lillard is only going to play here.'”
Le Batard then shared an opinion on the situation that he said listeners have been relaying to him, which is that Herro is viewed as an inferior player to Maxey because Herro is white.
“This one people love saying specifically to me because they thought I would think it first. They’re like, ‘Herro’s better than Maxey, he’s just whiter than Maxey.’ So, he gets disregarded as a prospect as if he hasn’t been a young dude in his early-20’s who’s a 20 point-a-game scorer. Please stop telling me that doesn’t have value is what the Heat are saying,” Le Batard added.
You can hear the full context of the comments below:
Dan Le Batard believes Tyler Herro is the best player Portland would get in a trade for Damian Lillard
“Herro is better than Maxey, he’s just whiter than Maxey.”
(Via @LeBatardShow )
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) July 17, 2023
While he said he had heard it from “people,” Le Batard sounded like he agreed with the idea that race is a factor in how the Blazers and others are evaluating Herro. Durant seemed baffled by that and shared his stance in a since-deleted tweet.
I wish Kevin Durant didn’t take it down, because @KDTrey5 gave Le Batard the best quick reply here on his funny Maxey-Herro take in his desperation to have Dame get to the Heat. pic.twitter.com/o5hC8DCUJ9
— Andrew Jones (@TWDTV1) July 17, 2023
It is unclear why Durant deleted the tweet. What we do know is that this is not the first time he has tweeted a response to Le Batard and then deleted it.
Herro would almost certainly have to be included in any Lillard trade for contract reasons. The Blazers supposedly don’t want him, which is the main reason a third team may need to get involved. If you believe a recent report about the Sixers’ stance on Maxey, it does not sound like they are going to be that third team.
