The Miami Heat played no part in the blockbuster Trae Young trade to the Washington Wizards, but there's no question they can learn a valuable lesson from it. And it's this idea that if they're not decisive with the future of their flawed star, it could lead to an undesirable ending.
The Hawks officially closed the book on the Young era in Atlanta and traded their star guard in what many will remember as a "salary dump" deal. Officially, the Hawks traded Young to the Wizards in exchange for C.J. McCollum and Corey Kispert.
This was certainly the Hawks trading Young for pennies on the dollar.
With all due respect to McCollum and Kispert, this was one of those deals that won't be remembered fondly in Atlanta, especially considering how encouraging things were during the first few years of Young's career.
The Heat should learn from the Trae Young saga
Just a few years ago, Young was at the center of one of the most exciting (and surprising) teams in basketball, helping lead the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, he's part of one of the biggest salary dumps that includes a "star" player in recent memory.
It's amazing how much the narrative shifted for Young in just a few seasons, going from one of the most promising young players in the league to one of the most overrated stars.
But this entire situation should be a warning to a team like the Heat, who could quickly find themselves in a similar situation as the Hawks.
The Heat have a tough decision to make on Tyler Herro
Herro is in a similar boat as Young was with Atlanta, just a year earlier.
Even if you consider Herro a better player than Young at this point in his career, which may be the case, it's the contract situation that makes everything much more complicated.
It's not just Young's regression as a star player that made him tough to move; it was his contract (and likely extension) that dirtied the water. The Heat could be walking a similar risk with Herro, who is also looking for a big contract extension.
But a year ahead of Young and the Hawks, if the Heat has learned anything, it's that they need to move quickly or don't move at all.
In other words, the Heat need to trade Herro sooner rather than later, or don't trade him at all. It's that simple.
Miami had nothing to do with the Young saga, but there's no question they can get some strong pointers on how the Hawks completely fumbled this entire situation. The Heat can't afford to make those same mistakes.