The Miami Heat Have gotten to where they currently are largely by developing their own. Here’s the only situation where they actively should look to deal.
The Miami Heat are one of the best teams in the NBA. If the flocks of reporters, experts, and analyst flocking to cover, report, and write stories on them after writing them all but off before the year started (looking at you Brian Windhorst and many others) aren’t any indication, then just take a look at them for yourself.
Don’t start at this past weekend’s showing though in New York, as although it is a good sample as to how bad they can possibly be at their worst, it isn’t representative of how they’ve played for the most of the season. Their hardnosed, hardworking, do anything mentality has been on full display all year and is only magnified and amplified via the effort and performances of their leaders and best players in Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
When thinking about Adebayo and Butler though, how did they get to where they are? While Butler was brought in this past summer as a free agent, Pat Riley‘s prized “whale”, Adebayo was drafted, groomed, and developed in South Beach. This leads to potential acquisitions, or the lack thereof, by the Heat as we start moving forward into that part of the season where the cream really starts to rise to the top.
Basically, the Miami Heat aren’t a “build a team” type of organization, save for Butler, who was meant to be here all along based on his demeanor, will, style of play, and personality makeup. When it comes to possible and potential acquisitions on the trade market specifically, here is the only type of move the Miami Heat should look to make.
They shouldn’t be in the market for anything except for a physical type big that can absolutely hit the boards. While that is the profile of the player they should attempt to attack in the trade market, here is the scenario. It should be a situation where the cost isn’t substantial and may affect the future of what is and has been built thus far in Miami during this phase of the team.
A scenario to use in example and one that is hopefully being monitored by Pat Riley and the crew is Dewayne Dedmon, who has openly requested to be traded from the Sacramento Kings. This situation would be low risk/high reward for the Miami Heat because it shouldn’t take a ton to land Dedmon because he has made it publicly known that he wants out. The Kings will have no leverage when and if they decide to deal him.
This is the only scenario and type of scenario where the Miami Heat should make a move, a situation where they are filling that specific and definite need, but also aren’t hanging themselves out to dry as far as what it may cost to get said player. This is the only type of deal that they should even consider making and especially with the current standing, makeup, and chemistry of the team.