Pat Riley (and the Miami Heat) have the opportunity to swing for the fences now that Ja Morant has seemingly hit the trade block. But it's a far more complicated situation than meets the eye, and one that this front office must navigate through between now and the NBA Trade Deadline.
The good news is that the Heat has some experience with a similar risk.
Even though the Heat has gotten by with overpaying for role players and forcing very good players into roles that may not be completely suited for them of late, there was a time when this team did take a risk on a star player whose reputation was a bit tainted.
Are the Heat ready to risk it all again?
Back in 2019, not many teams were interested in adding Jimmy Butler because of some off-the-court issues. The Heat were, and it worked out pretty well. In the Jimmy era, Miami didn't win a championship, but they did make the NBA Finals twice and the Eastern Conference Finals three times.
If there's any team that could rebuild a player's reputation (both on and off the court), it's probably the Heat. The question is, are they willing to take a similar risk with Morant as they did with Jimmy?
Does Morant's raw talent outweigh the concerns that have risen over the last couple of seasons?
For Jimmy, it did. And his time with the Heat surpassed all reasonable expectations. It could be for Morant as well, but in order to find out, the Heat needs to be willing to make the gamble.
The Heat are expected to express interest in Morant
Now that the Memphis Grizzlies are officially "entertaining offers" for Morant, the expectation is that a trade market for him will begin to develop over the next couple of weeks (if not before). It's still early, but the early indications are that the Heat will be one team to watch on this front.
They've already been linked to him in the past, and with the expectation that they're going to take a "win now" approach at the trade deadline, Morant has to be a topic of conversation for the front office.
How interested the Heat will be in Morant is the real question. I'd have to imagine much of that will depend on how his trade market develops. What will be the demand for Morant? Will there be a bidding war? What would the Grizzlies demand from the Heat?
Many of these questions are quite literally impossible to answer right now.
However, if the Heat is serious about adding a superstar talent at some point soon, they'd be foolish not to consider a trade for Morant.
How risky are the Heat willing to be in their pursuits back to championship relevance in the Eastern Conference? Because, despite his talent, trading for Morant would be quite the risk for the Heat.
But it's certainly one that could pay off in a big way for the franchise.