Have the Miami Heat seen Kyle Lowry’s best year there already?
By Eric Fritts
Miami Heat: There Are, Perhaps, Several Better Options Out There
The obvious piece here would be Donavan Mitchell, but that deal would be more than tough to get done. Miami’s draft capital is not very valuable, overall, to a team like Utah. There’s also the notion that Danny Ainge and Pat Riley notoriously don’t like each other.
Plainly stated, the Heat probably don’t have the assets to get this deal done. The other options are a tier below, the likes of De’Aaron Fox, Collin Sexton, or D’Angelo Russell
Fox is expensive and his availability is uncertain. Sexton is available in restricted free agency and would be a closer match salary-wise.
Russell is on an expiring deal and it isn’t unfair to see Minnesota viewing Lowry as a fit with their young group. However and with all of these, there are real questions about their game and if they could fit in with this Heat team.
One thing to keep in mind though is their youth, as they could still be molded to adapt their game. That’s similar to how Lowry did once acquired by Toronto.
The golden trade here, one that hasn’t been mentioned a ton, would be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. SGA is special and that’s well known, so it will probably take a large haul to get him.
He may not even be available but there is suspicion around just that if he continues to be too good. Oklahoma City has benched him before, as they’ve been tanking hard over these last few years.
This year is probably the biggest tank season of all, with the biggest prospect since Zion Williamson coming up in Victor Wembanyama. OKC even has another quality young guard in Josh Giddey.
It’s not inconceivable that Gilgeous-Alexander becomes available, as he simply doesn’t fit into their timeline anymore. Overall, it’s a limited market and Miami needs to make a deal.
Lowry’s decline was evident in these past playoffs and he’s only going to descend further. Whatever they do, moving Lowry might be one of their best bets.