Why the Miami Heat can’t make trades this season: No picks
One of the best trade assets a team can have is draft picks. First-round picks are extremely valuable and can often be packaged together to get a solid player in return.
In recent years, teams such as the Lakers and Bucks have used a trove of picks in order to get a star player in return. The Lakers added Anthony Davis this way (in part) and the Bucks landed Jrue Holiday.
Well, the Miami Heat don’t exactly have a strong selling point in that department. It has been well-documented that they do not have many draft picks to work with.
This year, the Miami Heat had no picks in the 2021 NBA Draft at all. It doesn’t get much better for them in the coming years, either.
They could potentially have a first-round pick in 2022, but it is very heavily protected. Them getting the pick also depends on whether or not they make the playoffs, and considering how good their roster is, they probably will.
Past that, things get even worse because of the protections they will have on their picks. Miami owes their 2023 first-round pick to the Thunder, but since it is lottery-protected for three years, they are unable to trade many of their future firsts.
Due to their lack of picks, it will be hard to sweeten the pot in any potential trades. Adding first or second-round picks is usually how contending teams get deals done.
If a rebuilding team is open to trading their veteran players, they would usually ask for picks in return. The Miami Heat will not be able to throw in as many picks as other teams.