The Miami Heat are wavering around basketball purgatory, and by next summer, they will have 8 players making millions in the double digits. While that isn’t necessarily a great sign when none of those players are superstars, they all happen to be pretty solid assets that could be potentially moved for an All-Star.
The Miami Heat have dug themselves into a hole of mediocrity midway through the season and have continued to be the most middling team in the league, funnily enough, sitting with a record of 21-20 as they just beat the Memphis Grizzlies last night.
And while players like Hassan Whiteside, Dion Waiters, James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, and even Tyler Johnson have shown signs they can be serious threats in this league, none of them make up for the fact that Miami’s cap is plagued by their questionable contract decisions they have made with those same players.
However, guys like Goran Dragic, Josh Richardson, and Justise Winslow have proven their worth and their contracts. But Miami put too much money into the pot when picking the guys to sign to huge deals, and while a lot of those players could turn it up this season, or even next, it may just be best to sell high on some of them while they are still young.
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But what teams are looking to rebuild their organizations to take the misfit puzzle pieces on the Heat?
I am taking us back to late-November with the Washington Wizards, when the lone D.C. basketball team almost sold all their talent, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
"“As the Washington Wizards’ season spirals, the franchise is making every player on its roster — including All-Star guards John Wall and Bradley Beal — available to discuss in trade scenarios, league sources told ESPN on Monday. Beal, 25, could turn out to be the guard with the most value on the trade market, with his 3-point shooting ability and a more manageable contract, and being three years younger than Wall. Wall’s contract extension starts in 2019-20 and will average $42 million annually for four years. What further complicates moving Wall is the inclusion of a 15 percent trade kicker in his deal. Wall is a five-time All-Star who has been a favorite of ownership.”"
Since this news broke, the Wizards were on an uptrend, and then the unfortunate John Wall injury happened, forcing the All-Star to miss the remainder of the season. And because of that, the Wizards’ front office has been quiet about trading Bradley Beal or Otto Porter, but they did end up making a confusing trade where they sent Kelly Oubre Jr. and Austin Rivers to the Phoenix Suns for Trevor Ariza.
So with Wall hurt, that leaves Miami with their next best (if not the best) player on the Wizards to make a trade for, Bradley Beal.
Beal’s 2018-19 stats: 24.4 PPG, 4.8 TRB, 4.8 AST, 1.3 STL, with shooting splits of 47.3/35.2/80.0
Luckily, with the Heat’s contract situation, they have so many assets that can be paired together to acquire the 25-year-old, giving us the ability to create a 5 trade column for Beal. Ultimately, some of these trades are either too little, or too much, but there is so much room for error when you’re dealing with trading for an All-Star, so bare with me through these 5 moves.
All trades have gone through the ESPN trade machine and are contractually legal.