A look at the challenges facing the Miami Heat in any trade scenario

The Miami Heat fit the description of a team who could benefit from a trade in their push to the top of the East, but it’s not that easy. We’ll take a look at the challenges facing them in any trade scenario.

The Miami Heat are a team that just keeps winning. In spite of injuries and suspensions hurting their depth, they’re 24-8 and the Eastern Conference’s second seed. With these depth issues, a trade would make sense, but it’s not nearly that simple.

They’re fortunate that Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson have broken out from the pack this season, because without their contributions the Heat would scarcely be able to field a team each night. With Goran Dragic back in the rotation, the Heat have nine players they can reliably place on the floor for game action.

That’s a rotation, but it’s no buffer for injuries or other misfortune which have a nasty habit of popping up when it’s least convenient.

In order to shore up the rotation and perhaps improve substantially, a trade would be the logical step. However, it won’t be that simple for the Miami Heat.

Roster constraints

The Heat have the NBA-mandated minimum of 14 players on the roster, not including their two-way players Chris Silva and Daryl Macon. This means that any trade they make can’t send out more players than it brings back.

Considering some of the trades which could be considered, such as attaching a young asset to Dion Waiters in order to incentivize a team into taking on his contract (note: This is not an endorsement for such a deal, simply an exercise), some of these transactions can be dismissed out of hand.

Of course, three-team deals exist to work around such minutiae, but as the saying goes, a three-team deal is pretty close to a no-team deal thanks to the logistics involved.

The hard cap

Thanks to the sign-and-trade that brought Jimmy Butler to Miami, the Heat are functioning under the hard cap for the rest of the season. This means that for no reason can they go over the luxury apron of $132,980,000.

As it stands right now, the Heat are within a stone’s throw of the apron (which functions as the hard cap) with just $855k to spare. This means that not only are they forbidden from sending out more players than they bring back, but they also can’t bring back more salary than they send out.

Again, this is something which could potentially be mitigated by a third team in a transaction, but with the scarcity of cap space around the NBA, this is also unlikely.

2021-22 dreams

While making a run for a title this season would be exciting, the Miami Heat have their eyes on the next dynasty. The biggest piece of that dynasty could come in 2021, when just about all the league’s stars are free agents, and the biggest star will hit the market.

That’s right, the Heat have set their sights on wooing Giannis Antetokounmpo to South Beach, and as things stand right now they’ll have more than enough to offer him a max contract.

While the Heat are obligated to abide by the rules regarding roster limits and the hard cap, internally nothing is more important than ensuring nothing messes up their ability to court Giannis.