While NBA transactions typically aim for win-win results that benefit all parties involved, some swaps are clear victories for a certain side.
The Miami Heat were involved in one such transaction earlier this offseason. And while they're more than two months removed now from somehow turning Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love into Norman Powell, insiders still can't believe it happened.
"How exactly did the Heat pull this off?" The Athletic's John Hollinger wrote while discussing this offseason's underrated moves. "...The swap turned a bench player (Anderson) and an end-of-bench player (the current version of Love) into a dynamic scoring threat for last year's 21st-ranked offense."
While analysts still seem convinced the Heat are headed nowhere this season, being on the right end of an absurdly lopsided exchange like this could be exactly the kind of fuel the franchise needs to defy expectations.
Norman Powell could be perfect for Miami.
If the Heat are going to rise above their underwhelming projections, they'll need to see that growth happen on the offensive end. That might require a change in approach from head coach Erik Spoelstra, but it's basically a non-negotiable if Miami wants to capitalize on the Eastern Conference's vulnerability.
Defense is clearly their specialty, but it's not special enough to carry this club. The Heat had this past season's ninth-stingiest defense, per NBA.com, and still landed 20th in winning percentage (.451).
Even if Spoelstra alters his approach, this defense should be good-to-great again. Bam Adebayo might be the Association's most versatile defender, Kel'el Ware has interior-anchor potential, and there are shutdown stoppers on the perimeter like Davion Mitchell and Andrew Wiggins.
As for the offense, a lot of this might hinge on Powell's ability to hit the ground running and repeat his late-career breakout. While he slowed down a touch during the final stretch, he still made the 2024-25 season (his age-31 campaign) a full-fledged leap year. He not only netted a career-high 21.8 points per game (second-most on the 50-win Los Angeles Clippers), but he did so while converting 48.4 percent of his field goals, 41.8 percent of his threes, and 80.4 percent of his foul shots.
He's a high-end play-finisher, which could be exactly what this attack needs. Tyler Herro can only shoulder so much of the scoring burden, Adebayo's defense ranks above his offense, and there's no guarantee Nikola Jovic will make the kind of jump so many Heat fans are hoping to see. A big part of making this work will be getting Powell back to (or at least close to) the level he reached last season.
That's what made the transaction so unquestionably favorable for this franchise. The Heat seemingly snagged a legitimate difference-maker for a couple of players who match the dictionary definition of expendable. And even several months removed from that swap, insiders still can't believe they pulled it off.