The Heat must be aggressive this offseason and willing to remain in luxury tax territory to improve the roster, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. If Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ja Morant and/or Zion Williamson become available at the right price, the Heat should pursue those opportunities, according to Jackson, who says that includes looking into the possibility of making a deal with the Celtics, who are facing a prohibitive tax bill next season.
The Heat should also gauge the Hornets‘ interest in removing protections on the 2027 first-round pick the Heat owe them for the Terry Rozier deal, perhaps by offering an unprotected 2032 pick with added incentives, Jackson says. That would allow Miami to offer up to four first-round picks instead of three in a deal for a star.
What the Heat need to stop doing, in Jackson’s view, is overvaluing their assets. While they shouldn’t be shopped outright, Bam Adebayo or Tyler Herro shouldn’t be off the table in a blockbuster deal if it helps the team acquire an even more talented player, Jackson contends.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Heat should seriously consider moving the No. 20 pick in this year’s draft, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel opines. The pick they owe the Hornets currently puts them under restrictions from trading some of their future first-rounders. If they deal the No. 20 pick for any first-round pick in 2027, it could open multiple first-round picks for trades in the coming years, Winderman notes.
- Jett Howard got more opportunities in his second season with the Magic but didn’t take advantage of them, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel writes. He appeared in 60 games but averaged just 4.5 points in 11.7 minutes per game. Howard remains confident he can be an impact player with more playing time. “I can shoot the ball at a pretty high level,” he said. “Getting used to doing that out there … It’s hard being called in sometimes and not other times, but that’s just with anything [as] a young guy trying to get into the league, trying to get navigate through that and get some comfortability with that.”
- As we relayed earlier today, Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington earned All-Rookie honors. How rare is that for the Wizards franchise? They are the first Washington players to make an All-Rookie team since Rui Hachimura was a second-team pick in 2019/20, Varun Shankar of the Washington Post notes. The only other time the franchise had two selections was when Rod Thorn and Gus Johnson earned the honor in 1963/64 for the Baltimore Bullets.
The Heat are just going to be a back end of the playoffs until they strike gold in the draft. They don’t have assets to get a premier trade target. Could they get KD? Sure, then still not compete for a chip.
They can offer up to 4 FRP’s plus players. Will Riley do this? That’s the big question
I’ve only seen them being able to trade 2 FRPs
Reading is essential.
Queen should be the easy pick at 6 if he’s still available for the Wizards. Their team would match my fav WNBA team (other than the Dream), the DC Mystics.
Shakira Austin = Alex Sarr
Kiki Iriafen = Derik Queen
Aaliyah Edwards = Kyshawn George
Sonia Citron = Bilal Coulibaly
Brittney Sykes = Jordan Poole
Georgia Amoore = Bub Carrington
Jade Melbourne = AJ Johnson
If Queen is playing PF. He will need to rebound because Sarr is not a good rebounder.
If Johnson from Texas is available then I would choose him first
Should have missed the playoffs to be in the lottery.
They may have Dallas pick too