Miami Heat: 3 Trades That Were Too Risky To Make This Offseason
By Noah Decker
Miami Heat: 3 Trades Too Risky To Make This Offseason – Kristaps Porzingis
Similar to the problem with Walker, the major problem with Kristaps Porzingis revolves around his health. This past season, he also played a mere 43 games, missing the majority of the games due to a surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his knee that he suffered in the 2020 playoffs.
The 25-year-old Latvian has struggled with health so far in his career. In 2018, he tore his ACLan d while he has returned from that injury to play at a high level, he hasn’t looked as good as before and particularly in this past season.
Even though he averaged 20.1 points per game in the regular season, he almost disappeared in the playoffs, averaging a disappointing 13.1 points per game. His rebounding numbers were also significantly lower than usual.
Must Read. This Is Why They’ll Always Be Around And Competitive. light
To be fair, his co-star on the Mavericks, Luka Doncic, is a very ball-dominant player. For most of their possessions, he will dribble the ball around half court for the majority of the shot clock and then he will make his decision.
As transcendent as Doncic is as a basketball player, this makes it harder for other stars to take over. As a result, Porzingis is on the trade block.
If the Heat had traded for Porzingis, they would have traded for another star big that could play alongside Bam Adebayo. Porzingis can stretch the floor and in the right system, he should be able to provide a great deal of scoring as an offensive threat.
The presence of Kristaps Porzingis would also have provided some relief for Bam, as he carries much of the load in terms of defensive rim protection and rebounding with little to no backup. At a whopping height of 7’3”, Porzingis can play the power forward or center position, has become a pretty good rebounder, and has the potential to become an even better defender.
The biggest risk the Miami Heat would have taken with Porzingis would be that they were giving up a lot for him and in return, if he had failed to play at the level of an NBA star, it would have been a double loss. While it appears that P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris will fill the role of playing alongside Adebayo to help him guard the NBA’s biggest centers, they are no Porzingis.
Making a trade for Porzingis would have likely jeopardized the Heat’s chances of signing Lowry or at the very least, would have made it more difficult for them to reassemble their squad. However, if the Heat were able to make a deal for Porzingis without giving up too much and while signing a discount veteran guard at the same time, this trade could have seriously helped them win some playoff games.