3 Trades the Miami Heat can make to jump-start their rebuild

It’s been a rough first 36 hours of free agency for the Miami Heat, who have seen rivals in Philadelphia, New York and Orlando get better while they have failed to make a meaningful move.

It appears we’re headed for a gap year in Miami, where the front office can run back the same core for another season and see if they can capture lightning in a bottle in the postseason again, before making a decision on Jimmy Butler’s future next June.

But if the Heat can’t make a major addition that puts them in the same tier as the top teams in the East, then they should spend this summer accomplishing something. 

The Heat are generally allergic to a step back – even a calculated one – but with a lack of financial and asset flexibility there’s a strong argument to be made that now is the time. 

If a star player doesn’t emerge as a realistic option for the Heat in the coming days, then perhaps they can explore some trades that will create cap space and replenish their draft capital so that they are better positioned to retool around Bam Adebayo over the next half-decade. 

So I came up with three trade ideas that could help them do that.

The Heat trade Tyler Herro for immediate cap flexibility

The Pistons need shooting and the Heat need cap relief. Trading the remaining three years, $93 million on Herro’s contract into Detroit’s cap space accomplishes that. 

While it would be difficult to part with Herro – a 24-year-old 20-point scorer with elite shooting chops – the Heat would at least bring back Jaden Ivey and a future first-round pick.

Ivey, the fifth pick in the 2022 draft, hasn’t panned out for the Pistons but his talent is tantelizing. Seeing how the 22-year-old Ivey would respond to being in Miami as opposed to a rocky Pistons situation would be worth the investment. 

The move would result in more than $21 million in cap savings this year and unlock the non-taxpayer mid-level exception that the Heat could use to add to the roster.