Trading for Ja Morant would force the Miami Heat into a position where they'd have to significantly change the way they play on both ends of the floor. That would beg the question: Is Morant, at this stage in his career, worth all that hassle?
Morant is coming off a season in which he was forced to play in Noah LaRoche's offense, which is similar to what Erik Spoelstra has crafted this year in Miami. LaRoche has been a consultant for Miami and has had a huge influence on the Heat's pace-and-space offense.
The problem is, Morant hated that offense in Memphis. If the Heat wanted to make it work with Morant in Miami, you'd imagine they'd have to alter their offensive philosophy. But that's not the only thing the Heat would have to adjust.
Ja Morant would represent a huge gamble for the Heat
In addition to perhaps changing their entire offensive philosophy for Morant, the Heat would also have to alter their defense around his weaknesses. Going from Davion Mitchell to Morant as the team's primary point of attack defender would certainly change their defense at the head.
Because of his bad on-ball defense, the Heat would have to change their defensive schemes.
Would this all be worth it for Morant?
Aside from the asking price and his expensive contract, these are just a couple of on-court concerns that the Heat would also have by acquiring Morant.
It, at the very least, gives the Heat something else to think about.
Then again, if the Heat does believe they can successfully get Morant's career back on track, all this still may be worth the gamble.
Because if Morant can transform back into the All-NBA player that he was earlier in his career, he would certainly be that superstar the Heat desperately needs. But there's no guarantee that will be the case, no matter how much the Heat believes in their developmental system.
And that's the true dilemma that the Heat has to work through over the next few weeks.
If Miami wanted to take a gamble on Morant, they easily could. But there are so many internal factors that go into this decision that make it far from a simple one.
Then again, at this point, especially with how the season has begun to unravel for Miami, why not take the gamble? Even if there's just a small chance that Morant ever becomes an All-NBA player again, the Heat may not have many other options to inject this level of talent into the team's roster.
It's far from simple, but if the Heat were to make a move for Morant, just know, it's going to require Erik Spoelstra to change a lot about the team's scheme on both ends of the court.
And, to be quite honest, I'm not sure if that's something Spo would be thrilled about. Nor is it a path the Heat should want to go down.