Two fair deals the Miami Heat can execute for Russell Westbrook
Deal #2
Heat receive: Russell Westbrook.
Thunder receive: Goran Dragic, Justise Winslow, Tyler Herro, and Duncan Robinson
I’m sure players like DJJ and the 13th overall selection Tyler Herro will be sticking points during negations, but Pat Riley would probably avoid any trade scenario in which he’s sending DJJ, Herro, and Winslow out at the same time. This holds especially true for third-year center Bam Adebayo, who’s been penciled in as the starter with Whiteside gone.
This deal offers two fewer players (4), but three of which are youngsters with high upside, especially between Winslow and Herro. Just like I don’t think Riley and the Miami Heat would part with Herro and DJJ together, I don’t think he’ll part with Waiters if Herro is included.
With the way Herro is balling out for the Miami Heat in the NBA Summer League, a team would be foolish not to believe that his skill set will transfer to the regular season NBA. Taking him in a deal would allow Oklahoma to gauge what kind of market Dennis Schröder has in future trades.
Whichever deal OKC negotiates with the Miami Heat, it’ll be one that provides young players with high upside while maintaining the ability to play out the season competitively or to flip the veterans including Steven Adams, in order that may go deeper into the tank to get even more assets. If they choose the latter, they’ll need to figure out who they wish to attack in free agency, since the class of 2020 doesn’t have anyone of note currently to offer.
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Teams like the New York Knicks have signed players to two-year deals this summer for a reason. Sam Presti will most likely be looking to rebuild and retool the roster via the trade market. We haven’t seen the Thunder tank, and I don’t think they plan on starting now.