Mailbag: Is it worth trading for Paul George?

In this week’s mailbag, is it worth trading for Paul George? Have the Miami Heat given up on Josh McRoberts? And thoughts on a possible trade with the Timberwolves for Zach LaVine.

You can send future Miami Heat mailbag questions to LockedOnHeat@gmail.com. Thanks to those of you who have sent questions. In addition to answering them on the podcast with my co-host David Ramil, I’ll answer them in this weekly column. Let’s do it.

Let’s say Miami gets a top-three pick, is it worth trading for Paul George? I’m not asking this question based on whether or not PG is a good player. I understand that he’s an All-NBA/All-Star/borderline superstar player. However, with the rumors of him really wanting to play for the Lakers is it worth giving up a ton of assets for a guy that can realistically leave after one year? Couldn’t Miami just wait until he opts out in 2018 and make a pitch to him then? – Bryan Young

If the Heat get a top-three pick, I’ll light my hair on fire. With that said, let’s say they do. They’ll have some interesting options.

(Side note: This was the issue with the team not tanking. They could have lost their way into a top-five pick, which would have put them in the conversation to trade for George or Jimmy Butler. Now they have to hope that they extremely lucky or that the Pacers and Bulls find a similar trade market to what the Kings had with DeMarcus Cousins. Which is unlikely.)

Let’s also assume that the Heat could pull the trigger on a deal that sends the no. 3 pick, Justise Winslow and Tyler Johnson for George. Should Miami do it? This is the question teams actually in position to trade for George are wondering. PG wants to go to the Lakers, so any non-Lakers team will have to be confident they can convince him to stay. Few teams have that sort of confidence, but Pat Riley and the Heat do.

Adding George to a team with Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside is a strong core, and would put the Heat among the top two or three teams in the East. If they can challenge the Cavs in Year One, it’s possible George is optimistic enough to return. That’s taking a big chance, though, and it’s not one I’m comfortable with.

If I were the Heat, I wouldn’t trade for George. Those L.A. dreams are too scary. I’d count my blessings, take Jayson Tatum or Jonathan Isaac with the third overall pick and hope to recruit him next summer.

Do you think the Heat have given up on trying to implement Josh McRoberts as a role player on this roster? – Jorel

The Heat won’t give up on McRoberts if he’s still on the roster, but they won’t be trying to get the same sort of production they hoped for when they signed him. I think McRoberts is at best a small-ball 5 at this point in his career. I can see the Heat using him in spot minutes here and there against certain matchups, especially if Willie Reed doesn’t re-sign. Miami won’t be asking him to be a key piece of the rotation, though, if that’s what you’re asking.

What do you think of Justin Jackson at the 14th pick in terms of fit next to Whiteside and as an upgrade to Babbitt ? – JB

I like Justin Jackson, but I wouldn’t view him as an upgrade to Luke Babbitt. He’s too skinny (6-foot-8, 190-something pounds) to play the 4. However, you can play him at small forward and move Justise Winslow or James Johnson to the starting power forward spot. That, I like. Jackson provides good shooting, passing ability and length. He won’t be able to stand up to NBA 4s, but he can jump passing lanes on the wing. I wouldn’t be upset if the Heat took Jackson at no. 14, but he isn’t the team’s future power forward.

Would you do: Zach LaVine, Nikola Pekovic and a the no. 6 pick for Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson, McRoberts and our no. 14 pick? Would this be enticing to Minnesota? – M Amb

At first glance, it’s not that bad of a trade for either side. The Timberwolves would be getting two guards for the price of one–and I’m not sure LaVine is a whole lot better than either Johnson or Richardson–while also shedding the gigantic salary of Nikola Pekovic. The Heat would be getting a guard with some upside while moving up eight spots in a very talented draft.

There are a few problems with this trade, though. First, Minnesota is expected to use the same medical exception the Heat plan to use with Chris Bosh to remove Pekovic’s salary from their cap. That eliminated the need to spend assets to get rid of him. It’s possible the Timberwolves would still make the same deal, minus Pek and McRoberts, if they aren’t confident in LaVine fully recovering from his ACL injury.

However, that would be hard to sell to fans as the move would mostly be considered running in place, while also losing a fan favorite and a top-six pick. As for the Heat, a backlog of guards seems to be more of a concern to fans than the team, and we saw this past season how having such depth helped them down the stretch. Unless the Heat think LaVine has star potential, exchanging two guards for one doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

But I like where you head is at, M. I’m a fan of LaVine, and think he can be better than both Richardson and Johnson. I just don’t know that this is a trade that makes it happen. It just doesn’t move the needle for either team. LaVine will be a restricted free agent in 2018. The Heat can either make him an offer then, or hope that Timberwolves are willing to sell before they have to pay him.

Next: How the Heat would've defeated the Celtics in Round 1

I was listening to the Locked on Raptors podcast and they were talking about the possibility of blowing up the team. Do you think the Heat have assets that interest the Raptors enough to trade for a player like DeMarre Carroll or Patrick Patterson? And do you think any of the potential trade acquisitions could have a ‘breakout’ year for the Heat? – Jorel

I’ll save this one for the podcast. Listen here.