Heat could return to old friend Joe Cronin to make major trade this offseason

It’s been a quiet offseason for the Miami Heat but not necessarily for a lack of trying. They have reportedly made offers for All-Stars like Lauri Markkanen and DeMar DeRozan, but for a variety of reasons have failed to make a splash.

If the Heat are intent on making an addition before the start of next season, they could try calling up old friend Joe Cronin, the general manager for the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Portland Trail Blazers have reportedly put Jerami Grant on the trade block. Should the Miami Heat engage with old friend Joe Cronin on a deal?

According to Aaron Fentress, who covers the Trail Blazers for the Oregonian, the Blazers aim to trade one of forward Jerami Grant or guard Anfernee Simons before training camp.

“I would be surprised if Jerami or Anfernee Simons, if one of the two is not moved,” Fentress told a Sacramento sports radio station. “I was told that that’s definitely the goal – that one of the two would probably be gone before training camp.”

However, Cronin is asking for two first-round picks for Grant. Unless they lift protections on a pick owed to the Oklahoma City Thunder next summer, the Heat can trade only a 2030 first-round pick. 

That lack of draft capital is a big reason Miami has not made a meaningful trade. Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers are hoping Cronin’s price will come down. If it does, the Heat could conceivably enter the bidding.

“I don’t know who’s giving up two firsts for Jerami,” Fentress added.

Grant, 30, is owed more than $130 million over the next four years. He’s an expensive and older player stuck on a rebuilding Blazers team. Trading for Grant’s $29.7 million salary would be difficult for the Heat, considering Portland likely wouldn’t be interested in taking Tyler Herro’s $29 million salary back in a deal. Maybe there’s a three-team construction that works, but that gets complicated.

The other option would be for the Heat to send the combined salaries of Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, Josh Richardson and Kevin Love, but that would leave the Heat with 11 players and less than $3 million in space below the second apron – not enough to fill out the roster with three more players and reach the NBA’s 14–player requirement without going into the second apron.

Trading for Simons’ $25.8 million salary would be easier financially but adding another small scoring guard to the Heat’s roster makes little sense. Grant, a 6-foot-7 combo forward who can defend, score and make open 3s, is a clear fit next to Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

But there’s a reason the Heat have had trouble making meaningful moves this summer. They are short on financial wiggle room and assets. Even if prices come down, they don’t have many options. Any big move will take a fair bit of luck and creativity.

Then there’s the added element of Miami’s relationship with Cronin, which isn’t considered cozy after last summer’s Damian Lillard debacle. Lillard tried to force his way to Miami and Cronin, feeling strong-armed, was reluctant to grant Lillard’s wish. He ended up trading Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks.

For now, it seems that trading for Grant, like the Heat’s potential acquisition of other high-end players this summer, has too many obstacles.