Miami Heat: Kendrick Nunn is the answer to biggest trade season question

The Miami Heat look like one of the best teams in the NBA this season. With that comes rumors, especially with the trade and rumor season on the horizon.

The Miami Heat are off to an 18-6 record, flawlessly 10-0 on their home floor, and things couldn’t be going any better for the organization that calls South Beach home. The superstar that they thought they were getting when they went out and signed Jimmy Butler to a max deal this past summer has more than showed up throughout the course of the season thus far, while the younger guys have come along splendidly as well.

One of the younger guys that have hopped onto the national scene as of late, or since the beginning of the season in spurts, is none other than Chicago’s very own, rookie Kendrick Nunn. Nunn is a silky smooth combo guard who excels at one thing more than any other it seems, getting buckets.

While the rook has lit it up at times this season, going for a career-high 36 points in the Heat’s most recent game against the Atlanta Hawks, he can become a bit streaky at times, as he is very hot and cold. If you look for a pattern in his performances, it seems as though he performs very well against the bad teams in the league and not so well against the good teams in the league.

While that is to be expected from a young player, when your highs are as high as his has been, you don’t expect that to be so much the case that you can set your watch by it. Unfortunately, that has also almost been the case with Nunn. It is for his streakiness right now and a few other reasons, that when it comes to the number one question for any team as “trade season” approaches, the Miami Heat’s should be “what can we land for Kendrick Nunn”.

For starters, his value is at an all-time high. While it could get higher, his performances mixed with the fact that not a ton of his weaknesses have been put on full display yet could provide the opportunity for Pat Riley to make a fleece of a deal in the right scenario.

The second reason is the one mentioned above. He is a very streaky player, meaning that he is a menace in a good way for the Heat to the other team when his shot is falling, but a menace in the worst way for his own team when it isn’t.

The next reason revolves around Justise Winslow. While Nunn has come up huge for the Heat at times this season, what he does can be replicated.

His scoring can be duplicated or accounted for by Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, and/or a number of different guys who could give more or who haven’t gotten an opportunity(James Johnson). While none of the other guys could possibly fill that void on their own, including what they’ve brought themselves on a given night thus far in this season, as a collective they could more than account for it.

What Justise Winslow does cannot be replicated by anyone else on the team, nor can it be accounted for. You really noticed Justise not being there in the two most recent games against the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks, in the most direct example, but anytime he isn’t on the floor it’s noticeable.

Nunn is likely the reason why Winslow was relegated to a bench role for now. So getting Justise back in the starting lineup alongside Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, along with whatever you could land for Nunn, is another reason why Nunn is the answer to the biggest Miami Heat trade season question.

While Nunn has been nothing but great this season for the Heat, I believe he could be of more value to the Heat as an asset to add pieces as opposed to a main scorer, at times, for this team. While I am also not saying that the Heat should be looking to trade Nunn at all, I am saying that if they decide they want to make a deal of some sort, he should be the piece they are looking to structure any potential deals around. This is the reason why he is the answer to the biggest Miami Heat trade season question as we approach that time of the year.