Donovan Mitchell watch is officially on. After earlier reports indicating that the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets are preparing offers to trade for the Cleveland Cavaliers star, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said Thursday that the Miami Heat are “lurking” as a potential suitor.
“They’ve been connected with Mitchell over the years,” Lowe said on ESPN’s ‘Get Up!’ Thursday morning. “They’re lurking, and they have a lot of stuff to offer in terms of picks and young players.”
A lot of stuff.
Let’s take a look at what that stuff is and the various packages the Heat could put together in an offer for Mitchell this summer.
Here are three potential ways the Miami Heat can trade for Donovan Mitchell this offseason.
3. All of the stuff
In terms of young players, Lowe is most likely talking about Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic. While Herro’s trade value has been hotly debated over the last 12 months, there’s little doubt that the perceived value of Jovic and Jaquez has gone up across the league.
Jovic was Miami’s most improved player in his second year. He carved out a role as the team’s starting power forward, showed signs of development on defense and as an outside shooter and added value with his full-court transition attacks.
Jaquez is considered the steal of last year’s draft. The 18th pick impressed right away, earning Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in November and December.
Even though Herro’s value has probably decreased, you could say the overall value of the whole “Damian Lillard package” has increased.
The Heat could trade Herro, Jaquez, Jovic and another small contract (like Orlando Robinson) to Cleveland for Mitchell. Miami also has two first-round picks available and could include a third by trading the 15th pick starting the night of the draft.