In order to land Kyrie Irving, the Miami Heat should look to send Hassan Whiteside to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Miami Heat need Kyrie Irving. And to pry him from Cleveland, the Heat should look to deal their franchise center Hassan Whiteside in exchange for the all-star point guard.
This is an aggressive move. And maybe the Heat could be able to complete a deal for Irving without him, but sending Whiteside to Cleveland as the centerpiece of the trade could allow the Heat to fully reap the benefits that come with trading for a star.
Moving Whiteside’s salary will go a long way towards freeing up cap space for a run at another star to pair alongside Irivng (Whiteside is due north of $23 million this year while Irving will make almost $19 million) assuming the next move is to trade Goran Dragic. Trading Dragic (who is owed $17 million this year) elsewhere could also potentially allow the Heat to recoup one of those lost draft picks they sent to Phoenix to get him in the first place.
Restocking at least some of the Heat’s assets and alleviating the largest salaries on the team (one could argue the third move here is to then trade Tyler Johnson) while adding a young star like Irving completely changes the direction of the franchise for the better, and makes those championship aspirations closer to becoming reality. Not only will the Heat be working towards freeing up more cap space but will have someone to recruit on their behalf. If that means parting ways with Whiteside, then so be it.
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For the most part, the center has yet to come up in trade talks and while he isn’t someone the Heat need to look to get off their books (not as dire as say, Tyler Johnson) he could become expendable by season’s end.
The reality is unwavering. Whiteside is 28 years old. Three years older than Rudy Gobert, two more than DeMarcus Cousins and seven years Karl Anthony Towns’ elder. To compound things, the Heat spent their first round pick this year on 19-year old Bam Adebayo and also gave 26-year old Kelly Olynyk a long-term contract. Not to mention James Johnson has also seen time at the center position in smaller lineups.
From a basketball perspective, if Adebayo develops quicker than the Heat planned, Olynyk gives them strong minutes and Johnson is able to anchor the small lineups, Whiteside will rapidly become the team’s most valuable trade piece. If they want to double down on this, then send him to Cleveland now and possibly hold onto a player like Justise Winslow, who still has plenty of development remaining.
On the other side, Cleveland should have interest in a rim protector and elite rebounder especially if they plan on closing the gap with Golden State, who hammered them on the glass over the course of five games. Steph Curry in particular came away with a number of rebounds that wouldn’t be available to him if Whiteside were patrolling the paint.
For Pat Riley, this is the difficult move that may present itself as necessary to take the next step into turning the Miami Heat back into a contender. 13 years ago, Riley traded fan favorites Caron Butler, Lamar Odom and Brian Grant to Los Angeles for then-disgruntled Shaquille O’Neal. The move gutted the Heat’s roster of nearly every beloved player (aside from Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem) but vaulted them into the conversation as direct challengers to the Detroit Pistons. The rest, of course, is history.
Next: Heat willing to offer Dragic, Winslow for Kyrie Irving
While Irving isn’t nearly at O’Neal’s stature, he is a star in this league and a very young one at that. But to get a star you have to give up multiple pieces and sometimes your most important pieces.