The Miami Heat have sat still and watched the rest of the East make major moves this offseason. Their biggest addition has been Alec Burks while the roster might actually be weaker after seeing Caleb Martin join the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency.
It looks like the Heat are banking on the team being much better if they can just put their injury problems behind them next season.
In a hypothetical world, let’s say that does turn out to be the case. Even then, it feels like teams like the 76ers, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and more are too far ahead of the Heat right now.
If the Heat are to be genuine contenders moving forward, they might need to pull off something major.
Could that come in the form of a mid-season trade? A year ago, the Heat were heavy favourites to land the signature of Damian Lillard, only for him to join the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks suffered a first-round playoff exit last season though. What if their season unravels this time around and it quickly becomes clear that the Giannis Antetokounmpo-Lillard duo is not going to work? Could it lead to the Heat trying to sign Lillard once again?
In the article, ‘3 Stars the Heat could target in a mid-season trade if their seasons go south’ on All U Can Heat, Wes Goldberg wrote: “If the Bucks experiment fails and it’s clear by February that thing is done, what’s to stop the Heat from calling the Bucks about Lillard? “At that point, he’ll have two-and-a-half years left on his contract, and Milwaukee could be motivated to get younger and cheaper around Giannis.
Could the Heat interest them in Wisconsin native Tyler Herro and valuable depth pieces?
“Lillard could join Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler in Miami. As beat up as the Heat have been, they still feel more structurally sound than the Bucks. Lillard could be the piece that puts them over the top during their shrinking window.” At this point in time, there are a lot of ifs and buts that will need to fall into place for that scenario to play out.
For now, it looks like the Heat are trusting the roster that they have. To be fair, the Heat have exceeded expectations in the past and made two trips to the NBA Finals this decade. Can Erik Spoelstra’s side pull a rabbit out of their magic hat for the third time?
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