Heat Check Gaming Trades MaJes7ic to Portland for a first round pick

As the NBA2K League gets ready to kick off their upcoming season, Heat Check Gaming is tuning up. Their latest move sees them trade away a key member of the team.

As Monday began, there were two key players for Heat Check Gaming…and then there was one

On Monday evening, Heat Check Gaming announced that they had traded Stanley “Majes7ic” LeBron to Blazer5 Gaming in exchange for their 1st round draft pick in the upcoming entry draft.

This move may come as a shock to some, as MaJes7ic is exceptionally versatile and was protected from the expansion draft that featured GenG and Hornets Venom GT. As much as Heat Nation may have wanted to see both him and All-NBA2K League center Hotshot usher in a new era for Heat Check, it appears general manager and coach Derric “Famous Enough” Franklin had other plans.

There’s no way to tell how this deal came about, but allowing MaJes7ic to showcase his abilities in the frontcourt throughout the regular season paid off for his former team. After taking a brutal 38 point loss to the eventual league champion T-Wolves Gaming, he was able to lead the team to an eight-point victory against Raptors Uprising GC, earning his first player of the game award.

Those who have been watching the team closely have seen him play meaningful minutes at small forward, power forward, and center, which is precisely what Blazer5 needs going into season three. Portland chose to protect 2018 MVP/Defensive player of the year center OneWildWalnut, 2019 MVP Mama I’m Dat Man, and shooting guard LavishPhenom.

They obviously don’t need any help at those three positions, but are looking to reload and shore up concerns that they have in the frontcourt. They’ve had the most regular-season wins in 2018 and 2019, but have fallen short in the first round of the playoffs during both years.

They’ve also been on the record as finally looking to fill their head coach position. It’s a position that’s been vacant for two seasons.

To say this move has the approval of the current players would be an understatement. Mama I’m Dat Man instantly took to Twitter to express his excitement to be playing alongside MaJes7ic. While LavishPhenom echoed the same sentiments, he even gave us a future NBA 2K League trivia answer while he was at it.

So what’s left for Heat Check? Nothing besides their coach and franchise center, Hotshot.

Miami will have the tall task of scouting and drafting five new players to the roster. They’ll have two first-round picks: 8th (own),19th (via BZG), and three more selections throughout the remainder of the draft.

Anyone who tuned into a Heat Check game knows that they need a point guard desperately. Coach Famous even executed a midseason trade for MOAM in an attempt to remedy the situation, but he wasn’t retained or protected this offseason. It doesn’t mean he’s not welcome back to the team, but he’ll have to wait through the draft process to find out.

Another name to look out for during the draft is well respected sixth man ChaChingSingh. He told me in an interview last season, “I’m pretty comfortable playing 2-5… If you’re able to be extremely versatile as the sixth man, it’s a huge plus.” Maybe Miami will use a pick later in the draft to bring him back into the fold, but he’ll also need to wait and see, as his stock did rise during the numerous opportunities he was given on the big stage last season.

In a statement to the media regarding the trade, coach Famous had this to say, “For us, MaJes7ic’s versatility was always his greatest asset. He’s a great player wherever you put him on the court… I wish him well in the rest of his career.”

Hopefully soon, we will get some insight into what Hotshot thinks about all of his potential teammates being out in the draft pool somewhere, but he couldn’t be reached for comment.

No one knows what moves the organization has in store for draft night, but we do know one thing for sure. Next year’s roster will look completely different than years past, and a new era of Heat Check Gaming basketball is underway.