Heat playing defense on personnel market under NBA’s Lillard lens? No Silver lining assured.

MIAMI — The Miami Heat have proven willing to bang their head against walls when it comes to bids for elite talent, even pursuits that ultimately have seen elite talent head elsewhere.

But with the Damian Lillard pursuit now having the full attention of the NBA, the question becomes whether league veto power could step into the mix.

Such unfettered power is in place for Commissioner Adam Silver under Article 24 of the National Basketball Association Constitution and By-Laws.

In the article denoting “Authorities and Duties of the Commissioner”, section (i) (i) reads, “The Commissioner shall have the power to declare null and void any Player transaction made by and between Members of the Association or by and between Members of the Association and any organization outside of the Association.”

That is worth noting in the wake of the league issuing a memo last week regarding Lillard’s preference not only to be dealt with four years remaining on his contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, but also to be dealt solely to the Heat.

In that memo to all teams, regarding the handling of the issue by agent Aaron Goodwin, the league said, “Goodwin denied stating or indicating to any team that Lillard would refuse to play for them. Goodwin and Lillard affirmed to us that Lillard would fully perform the services called for under his player contract in any trade scenario. The relevant teams provided descriptions of their communications with Goodwin that were mostly, though not entirely, consistent with Goodwin’s statements to us.”

Neither the Heat, nor any other teams, were named in the memo.

For the Heat, this is not necessarily new, nor are rescinded transactions.

But it is a scenario that is extremely rare, with commissioner involvement neither anticipated or perhaps germane.

The notable exception for the Heat came on July 31, 1996, when the league voided the Heat’s signing of Washington Wizards forward Juwan Howard. The league cited bonuses in the contracts of Tim Hardaway and P.J. Brown putting the Heat over the salary cap with the Howard signing. The Heat staunchly then and for years after claimed the NBA misinterpreted their order of what were legal operations in the signings of those contracts.

Two weeks later, the Heat settled their arbitration with the NBA and Howard was returned to the free-agent pool, with the Heat instead adding Dan Majerle.

The Heat’s other notable brush with a rescinded deal was one that did not involve the NBA, but rather then-Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling, who year later ultimately was forced out of the league in disgrace.

In August 1993, the Heat believed all parties had agreed to a trade that would send Heat first-round picks Glen Rice and Willie Burton to the Clippers for Danny Manning, with the front offices from both teams signing off. Manning’s bags were packed, awaiting the flight to Miami. But that is when Stirling said he had a dream the night before with championship visions regarding Manning and blindsided both teams by refusing to sign off.

As for commissioner input on trades, the most notable case in recent years is one the NBA contended was not commissioner input at all, but rather ownership input.

In December 2011, the front offices of the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets and Houston Rockets had agreed on a three-team trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers, Lamar Odom to the Hornets and Pau Gasol to the Rockets. Former Heat guard Goran Dragic also was involved in those machinations.

That’s when late NBA commissioner David Stern stepped in and vetoed the deal.

But it was complicated. At the time, the Hornets, because of their dire financial situation, were being operated by the NBA as a new buyer was sought. That effectively made Stern the Hornets’ ownership representative.

The timing of the Paul trade also came a year after the Heat loaded up on the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, with Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, whose team lost James to the Heat, pushing hardest against the trade of Paul to the Lakers.

So, no, it was not an invocation of what stands as Article 24, section (i) (i), but rather what Stern termed, “basketball reasons.”

Interestingly, at the time, Stern said, “Superstars, under any collective-bargaining agreement, will always have tremendous leverage in this league, because an individual player can be so impactful on a franchise.”

Still, even when Silver and the NBA have found untoward behavior that blurred the lines of personnel rules, the penalties the past few years merely have been forfeiture of second-round picks, as has been the case with free-agency maneuvering for Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kyle Lowry, Lonzo Ball, P.J. Tucker, Danuel House and Jalen Brunson. No agreements were voided.

For his part, Silver mostly has remained out of such issues, with almost all rescinded trades being due to failed physicals, including:

— In 2022, former Heat forward Rodney McGruder was traded by the Detroit Pistons to the Denver Nuggets for forward Bol Bol. The trade was rescinded when Bol failed his physical.

— In 2016, former Heat center Joel Anthony was dealt by the Pistons in a three-team deal, only to be returned when center Donatas Motiejunas failed his Detroit physical.

— In 2009, center Tyson Chandler saw his trade from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Oklahoma City Thunder rescinded because of a failed physical.

Previous rescinded trades involved failed physicals with Steven Hunter (knee), Shareef Abdur-Rahim (knee), Mateen Cleaves (foot), Alvin Williams (knee), Dino Radja (knee), Victor Alexander (ankle), Duane Causwell (foot) and Sean Elliott (kidney).