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Miami Heat: 10 moves for high-caliber players by the NBA trade deadline

By Trey Flynn

Miami Heat president Pat Riley at a December 2016 news conference at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami. (Pedro Portal/El Nuevo Herald/TNS via Getty Images)
Miami Heat president Pat Riley at a December 2016 news conference at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami. (Pedro Portal/El Nuevo Herald/TNS via Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – DECEMBER 28: Harrison Barnes #40 of the Dallas Mavericks shoots the ball during a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on December 28, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – DECEMBER 28: Harrison Barnes #40 of the Dallas Mavericks shoots the ball during a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on December 28, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

In this trade idea, the Miami Heat send Hassan Whiteside and Rodney McGruder to the Dallas Mavericks, in return for, Harrison Barnes.

Recently, the Mavs made one of the biggest trades in NBA history, in terms of not giving up much for a perennial superstar in Kristaps Porzingis. And even coming off a severe ACL injury, Porzingis is already a guaranteed positive player for Dallas moving forward, however, Barnes may have an awkward fit next to the unicorn for the foreseeable future.

The Knicks ended up grabbing the Mavs starting center, DeAndre Jordan, in the deal for Porzingis, which leaves a gap at the starting center position for the Mavs. And yes, you can definitely play Porzingis at the 5, but he has voiced concerns with that in the past, which seems to be a constant factor in these unicorn bigs, as Anthony Davis likes the power forward position more too.

Dallas simply swaps Barnes for a defensive anchor in Whiteside, also grabbing McGruder to be a nice, switchy wing that can play solid defense and hit his open shots next to Doncic and Hardaway Jr.

For Miami, the fit would look a lot like the Porter deal, except I believe that Barnes is the scorer that many believed Winslow would be until he showed his ability to facilitate this season. Barnes fills that void at the 3, which allows Winslow to play consistently at the 1, which means Dragic can be moved elsewhere or play off the ball at the 2.

Not a huge fan of our next deal, but many Heat fans would like to see Riley pull the trigger.

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