The Miami Heat would be foolish to pull the trigger on a proposed trade (by Bleacher Report) for Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. While it may seem tempting on paper, it would certainly do much more long-term damage than short-term good.
In a vacuum, reshuffling this currently flawed Heat roster into a core of Kawhi, Harden, Kel'el Ware, Norman Powell, and Bam Adebayo may seem great and appealing And if things would theoretically fall in that team's favor, it could even lead to them making a lot of noise in the Eastern Conference.
However, this is a trade that would be extremely short-sighted and one that could end up hurting the Heat in the long run.
To acquire Kawhi and Harden, this is what the Heat would have to give up: Kasparas Jakucionis, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Terry Rozier, and two first-round picks. That's too much for a 1-2 year window to win a championship.
Why the Heat should say no to this proposed deal
Punting on the potential of Jakucionis would be pretty short-sighted for Miami. It would hurt their long-term young core, especially considering how promising he's looked in spurts so far this season. I'd be very hesitant to include him in any deal, especially in one that may have such a small window for success.
Plus, if the Heat were to pull the trigger on such a deal, it would eliminate all hope the team has at landing Giannis Antetokounmpo in a trade. Losing these two first-round picks would be catastrophic for any plans in the future the team may have to land a superstar. Objectively, that's the big issue with this proposed deal.
It's the fact that, by making this move, the Heat would be pivoting away from their long-reported pursuit of Giannis to put all their eggs in the basket of two aging stars who have had durability issues all throughout their career.
That's where the Heat has to draw a hardline. At this point, I'd imagine the Heat would rather keep the status quo at the NBA Trade Deadline than do anything that may jeopardize their chances at an all-out pursuit for Giannis Antetokounmpo during the offseason.
Trading two first-round picks and one of their best young prospects would destroy any shot the Heat has at landing Giannis in the future. And, especially in this scenario, the risk wouldn't outweigh the reward.
That's what this deal would ultimately come down to. In the end, this hypothetical deal could end in much more disaster than it would in greatness. If this scenario were to come across the table for the Heat, it'd have to be a hard no.