Just like every team trying to compete for a championship this year, the Miami Heat will likely look to improve their roster throughout the course of the season.
Utilizing the buyout market is one very popular method of doing this, and the other is making trades. However, the Miami Heat may not have much flexibility in that regard.
Most teams that end up making a run in the playoffs were very active in the trade market that season. The Bucks traded for PJ Tucker, the Nets traded for James Harden, and so on.
Regardless of whether or not they want to make moves, the Heat are very restricted in what moves they can make. Why won’t the Heat be able to make many moves this season?
Why the Miami Heat can’t make trades this season: Financial flexibility
When the Miami Heat signed Kyle Lowry this summer, they used up all of their financial flexibility. This means that there won’t be much room to maneuver in that regard this year.
Miami also chose to re-sign Duncan Robinson to a huge contract and extend Jimmy Butler. They prioritized building out their roster that way instead of via trades.
Technically, the Lowry addition was a sign-and-trade, but that just emphasizes how limited the Heat were financially. Moving forward, they are going to have to walk a very tricky line.
They will obviously be able to match contracts if they want to make a trade, but that only leads to another issue. If Miami wants to get any moves done, they will need to match contracts almost perfectly.