The Chicago Bulls are reportedly in the market for a point guard. Could the Miami Heat put an enticing enough package together
After the NBA Draft Lottery was all said and done, there were apparently a few unhappy franchises. While New York Knick fans were upset at not getting the chance to take Zion Williamson at number one overall, there were quite a few teams upset because they wouldn’t have the opportunity to draft Murray State’s Ja Morant. While the Miami Heat were perhaps in both of these groups, teams such as the Phoenix Suns and more importantly the Chicago Bulls were seemingly all in on Morant.
This takeaway is no more apparent than in the fact that now the Chicago Bulls seem to be in search of a point guard to add to their roster via the trade market. As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bulls had the mindset that if they didn’t land the number one or two picks, that they would be interested in shopping the pick for a point guard. The name that was specifically mentioned was Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball.
With the Bulls in the market for a veteran type point guard, and looking to trade the seventh overall pick to make the deal happen, is there any way possible that the Miami Heat could get in on this action? It’s not very likely based on the assets at that position that the Miami Heat have to offer, but anything is possible.
When looking at what those possible assets would be though, the first one that comes to mind would be Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic. Dragic would actually make sense for the Bulls for a few reasons. The first of those reasons would be that he is what they seem to be in search of, a veteran point guard.
In looking at the second reason, the Miami Heat guard would fit well with the young core that they are already building in the Windy City. When looking at Zach Lavine, Kris Dunn, Lauri Markannen, Otto Porter Jr., and Wendell Carter Jr., one of the first things that jump out at you is the athleticism in that lineup. With this athleticism, the Chicago Bulls play an up-tempo run and jump type of offense.
Goran Dragic has always been a furious player who likes to put his head down going downhill, and this would fit right in with the rest of their roster, where most of their core likes to do that as well. Goran is also a good three-point shooter, shooting right at 35 percent this past season and at 36.3 percent for his career, which would fit the core as well.
As Otto Porter Jr, Zach LaVine, and Lauri Markannen are also capable shooters from deep, adding Goran would help them create more space and driving lanes for players such as Kris Dunn and Wendell Carter Jr. Something else that Goran showed this season for the Miami Heat would also work well with this core as the starting five of the future, the ability to be very effective in a sixth man role as that microwave type of player capable of scoring in bunches in short spurts.
Now that we have a few of the reasons why Goran Dragic might fit what the Bulls are looking for, is there any way the Miami Heat could pull off such a deal? If you’re thinking a straight up trade of Goran Dragic for the seventh pick, it would be a nice sentiment, but unlikely to happen.
The Miami Heat could sweeten a potential deal though. If they were willing to perhaps swap their own pick along with Goran Dragic for the seventh overall pick, that would perhaps be something that the Bulls would entertain. If this year’s 13th overall pick wasn’t enough to make the Bulls pay attention, the Miami Heat could also potentially offer a higher pick in a future draft.
As the Miami Heat have already traded their 2021 first round pick to the Suns in the deal to acquire Dragic back in 2015 ironically enough, the NBA rule of not being able to trade consecutive first rounders would prevent them from moving a first round pick until the 2023 draft. If the Heat could somehow draw up a deal that included a top 3 protection, where their next draft pick between let’s say 4-8 immediately went to the Bulls, that may be something they would entertain while also getting Dragic.
It would perhaps take something crazy to coax the Bulls out of that pick. If they rebuffed the Miami Heat with something like this year’s first, 2023’s first, along with Goran Dragic, that would be something that the Heat hopefully wouldn’t go for. This is for a few reasons that includes the steep price, but also because of other non-obvious benefits of acquiring Dragic.
An important added benefit for the Bulls in potentially acquiring Dragic from the Heat would be that if he were still on the Miami Heat roster to be traded, it would mean that he opted into the final year of his current deal.
This means that if the Bulls were unhappy with the fit, or simply wanted to move on after not liking what they saw, he would come off of the books at the end of next season. All in all, a Dragic based package probably wouldn’t be enough to get the Bulls to pull the trigger. The Miami Heat have to try everything though, because they need scoring and shooting in the worst way, and this draft has quite a bit of it to offer.