Should Miami Heat hesitate to move Josh Richardson in a Sign and Trade?

The Miami Heat lack the cap space to sign a big free agent outright. Would they ever think about moving Josh Richardson as apart of a sign-and-trade?

The Miami Heat are one of many teams recouping from last Thursday’s NBA Draft, patiently waiting on the next big date in the NBA offseason calendar as they get their newest players introduced and acclimated. With NBA free agency set to unofficially kick off on June 30th at 6 p.m. as the moratorium period begins, teams will immediately start to pounce on a stacked class. With a pool that includes the injured Kevin Durant, Kemba Walker, and Kawhi Leonard to name a few, teams are sure to be jousting for signing position at the tick of six.

While the Miami Heat may be waiting around for the party, they won’t be on the VIP list for any of the free agents, if invited at all. As heavily circulated, reported, and scrutinized upon, the Miami Heat don’t have much available cap space in general and not nearly enough when talking about signing a big free agent.

While they don’t have the cap space in tow, there are other avenues that they could use to acquire a key free agent. The one that would most likely be employed by the Miami Heat is a sign and trade for a player with mutual interest. As Jimmy Butler has reportedly said that he will speak with the Heat, we can use him as an example.

If Butler were to approach the Philadelphia 76ers in order to try and work out a sign and trade agreement with the Heat, that would be something that the Miami Heat probably couldn’t afford to pass on. While there are a few good players and pieces on this Miami Heat team, none has a more attractive and tradeable contract than Josh Richardson. Not only is his contract enticing though, at 4 years, $41.96 million that has three years left including this season, but he fits in with any team and lineup with his skillset.

The question asks if the Miami Heat should be hesitant to move Richardson if an opportunity to land a player such as Butler comes to them in this capacity. The answer is no, they shouldn’t.

The first reason is that if you were to bring in a star type player to take the big shots, Richardson would compliment anyone including that particular player, perfectly. If that were Butler, He, Richardson, and Justise Winslow would also be a terror on the defensive end at the 1-2-3 positions in certain lineups. The second reason is that this was his very first pro season where he was relied on as heavily as he was on the offensive end, while still being asked to do the great things he’s capable of on the defensive end.

Not that player hasn’t immediately stepped into that role with success before him, but some need just a bit more time to get fully adjusted. Lastly, although he could have been better, if you look at his overall numbers he wasn’t that bad. Although it wasn’t enough to drive them to the playoffs, his averages were up in rebounds, points, and assists, at 16.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists.

When it comes to the reality of the situation however and unfortunately, the Miami Heat would probably move Richardson if it meant landing a player such as Butler. It would not be the brightest or best thing to do though, even if it meant landing Butler. You would be moving a piece of the team that has the potential to help put them in a winning position while also disrupting the chemistry.

Making these moves are all about fine-tuning and precision. Let’s hope they handle the situation with impeccable accuracy, because taking two steps backward to move one step forward essentially puts them back where we are, or a step behind that.